Comments on: She’s Traveled a Long Road – Blogging for Prematurity Awareness Month

By: Lisa

Lisa — Tue, 02 Dec 2008 01:50:34 +0000

You’re right about bad luck in the lung department. My 28-weeker born in 1987 (Good Lord!) just had exceptionally good luck in that area. It was still a scary time. I did great with the progesterone injections this last time and was only hospitalized one time due to the flu.

By: Kristie

Kristie — Fri, 28 Nov 2008 17:46:34 +0000

Yeah, she actually got two doses, and was under consideration for a controversial third dose. I also got steroids the week before she was delivered. She had bad luck in the lung department, considering her size and the fact that she is a girl. As it turns out, she has a structural problem with one of her lungs that probably kept meds from getting where they needed to be. We didn’t learn this until she was 16 months old…

By: Lisa

Lisa — Fri, 28 Nov 2008 03:54:08 +0000

Did your daughter receive surfactant at birth? My son, born at 28 weeks, was in a surfactant study. We were strongly encouraged by the NICU group to give consent when it was obvious that the labor could not be stopped. My son went through many of the things that you described above but was just on the vent for a day. He had an oxygen hood for a few more days but that was it. Of course, the fact that I had been in labor for several days with ruptured membranes contributed to helping his lungs mature. Back then they didn’t give the steroids automatically. I only got that a few hours before he was born. I was lucky to take home a healthy little baby that just had an apnea monitor for a few months.
That experience is something that stays with you forever. Every pregnancy after is filled with the worries of it happening again. I was always so relieved to hit each point where the risk decreases, 24, 28, 32, 35 weeks and I felt like I could finally relax.