I know every baby is different, especially with so many different CHD diagnoses...but for those of you who knew at birth of your babies heart defect I have a question.
How long was your baby in the hospital at birth?
And how many of you had C-Sections?
How long was it before you got to see your baby?
I'm getting closer and closer, and even though I shouldn't be stressing about things I can't help it! I need to hear everyone's story so please please share!
8 comments:
Stressing is normal! But try as best you can not to (even though its hard!).
Even though we found out about Vaeh's defect after birth, she was in the hospital almost 3 weeks. She had a heart cath at 4 days old, so with watching her after that, then she had feeding issues... But like you said, not every heart baby is the same.
I'm sure Baby David will have some hospital time just because of the defect, but we'll keep praying that he's stable & can go home soon after birth with you!
We didn't find out about Bilal's CHD until right before we were to be discharged. So ours was a different situation. Fortunately we were able to go home, with close follow up, but it is true, it is so variable, and you can't get as good an idea with a fetal echo, compared to a regular echo that David will probably have very soon after he is born. I am guessing he'll get some NICU time.
Try and focus on the positives, soon you will be holding your precious baby boy in your arms.
Like you, we knew in advance that we had a baby with CHD. I was induced a week before my due date and had a normal vaginal delivery, although there were lots of specialists (NICU, pulmonary, cardiology) in the room just in case.
I was able to hold Sebastian for a few minutes before they took him to the NICU for assessment, and then I was able to visit him there about an hour later. He was released from the NICU the next day and stayed in my room with me until we were both discharged home a couple of days later.
Considering how nervous I was before Sebastian was born, things went about as smoothly as they possibly could have for us. I hope it will be the same for you!
We, too, knew about our son's CHD before he was born. Our cardiologist was fantastic and really worked with our OB to try and give us as "normal" post-birth as possible. I had Luke naturally and was able to hold him for a couple of minutes until he and my husband went to the NICU for an echocardiogram. If your cardiologist is comfortable with baby David not being taken instantly to the NICU, I would suggest having him talk, or write a letter to your OB. The nurses were still pretty quick to take Luke to the NICU, but I didn't feel like the room was swarmed with medical personnel.
My OB and sister stayed with me post-birth for about 2 hours while my epidural wore off. This was the hardest part, as I had to wait to hear about how Luke was doing. Once I was transferred, the staff was very helpful in getting me up to the NICU to see and hold Luke. Our card. had confirmed his diagnosis already and he was very stable. The only thing on him was the monitor leads. I even got to breastfeed right away (again, thanks for our cardiologist making that clear to the NICU folks.)
Luke stayed in the hospital for 8 days, we were waiting to see how his heart responded once his PDA closed. We got to go home for about 3 weeks before his first surgery.
We will be praying for a wonderful and peaceful birth. Even though there was uncertainty about how Luke would do outside of me, it was still beautiful and miraculous and perfect to meet him.
We are excited for YOU to get to meet this sweet boy!
Jesse
http://smithfamilyjourney.blogspot.com
I had a regular vaginal delivery. Well not regular seeing how I was hospitalized for pre-term labor twice. Every day she stayed in was a blessing. I ended up delivering Arianna on Thanksgiving weekend so my OB and pediatric cardiologist was out of town.
Of course right after delivery they evaluated her and brought her to me for a quick kiss goodbye and off to the NICU she went.
We waited for 3 hours before we could see her and it felt like the longest 3 hours. I was literally in my wheelchair by the door asking everyone when I could see my baby.
Arianna was a pink tet and only spent 5 days in the NICU. She came home to grown and had surgery just days shy of her 6 month birthday.
It's different for everyone. We were told we wouldn't know how she would do until birth. I know this is a stressful time right now. Just try to relax cause once David is here there won't be much time for that.
If you have any other questions just let me know.
Hugs,
Vanessa
I agree with the readers that say try real hard NOT to stress...it won't help anything so try to relax. It sounds like you are in good hands with your doctors. I don't have any advice with CHD but I did deliver a sick baby. His liver was not working. I don't think the prenatal classes teach/talk enough about the "what ifs". I guess that would scare young moms to be. But I would certainly have benefitted from that considering my baby couldn't come home right away. He was in the hospital for almost 2 months with no medical reason why his liver was working. All of a sudden (MUCH prayer) his liver started working and he is happy, healthy a BIG teenage boy. I found the NICU to be a very wonderful place. YOU will do just fine and your little guys sounds like he might be a big guy which is even better :) Is your daughter back home?
Every baby is different and every surgery is different. Cooper was born vaginally on 11/28/07 at 12:18am. He was taken to the NICU at a different hospital within an hour after birth. I did get to hold him for a few seconds. My husband and my father went with Cooper to the children's hospital. I was released less than 6 hours after giving birth so that I could be with him. At the time I was thrilled they let me go but that was the longest day of my life. We brought Coooper home on December 13th 2007. We went back in for his 2nd surgery on the 11th of May and we came home on the 14th of June. His next surgery will be this summer. It never gets any less stressful from surgery to surgery but you will find the strength and your own way of dealing with it and being strong for your baby. I always remind myself to be strong as this is not about me but rather about the most precious gift I have ever been given. I remember a nurse telling me one night that they can always tell the parents that are stong because thier babies are strong, they learn from us. As scary as everything is right now, remember you are going to an amazing place with amazing doctors and there are so many of us praying for you and your baby. You both are in good hands!
You are right every baby is different because of all the different Heart Defects out there, they could find out more when David is born. But do not get stressed out try and relax I know it is hard believe me. I found out about Logan's Heart Defect when I was 4 months Pregnant.
I did have a C-Section carried to term 39 weeks. Logan was in the hospital in the NICU for 1 week we came home and was home for 1 week, he was very Cyanotic (Blue Baby) his stats were in the low 60's so they rushed him into surgery and he was in the hospital for the first 3 Months of his life and had 5 Heart Surgeries and while in the Hospital found other problems Internally. I was able to hold Logan for a second and could not hold him again till he was 3 months old. It is very Hard. But with Prayer, God and your family and Friends it will ease some pain. We are all praying for you and your family. If you need anything please email me.
Karen
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