Any 22 weekers out there?

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last night in our level 3 unit, out team with over to l&d for a code. it was for a 22 and 3/7 weeker! they coded that poor kid for 50 mins:mad:. has anyone ever heard of this? has any one taken care of an infant under 23 weeks and it lived even an few days. after 26 years somedays i just wounder what is next. how low can we go?!:confused:

Specializes in pediatrics.

Sooooo many times, over the years, people (many of them health care professionals who should know better),have said that because of the girls being born at 24-25 weeks 25 years ago, that is the reason for the severity of the disabilities. Neonatal has come SO FAR since then. . I usually respond with - are you telling me that preemies no longer ever have brain bleeds?

In my work with many parent groups - several of them with parents and professionals who are concerned with neonatal ethics. .many people are saying that our social service agencies and schools are seeing not only more disabled children, but more SEVERELY disabled children then ever before, many of them former preemies. So while neonatal overall, is more successful in "saving" these very tiny babies then they were perhaps 25 years ago, they are not being saved very "well." And families and society are left with picking up the pieces. Personally, I think we need to abolish the archaic Baby Doe Laws, and limit miracle baby stories, so parents come into neonatal with realistic expectations. Parents need to know that there are worse things then death, and it's ok to let these tiny ones go.

Everyone should read "Baby At Risk" by Ruth Guyer.

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hi everyone,

I was reading through this article and it made me sad to read that all of these babies did not survive. So I thought I would share a happy story. I was born on July 29, 1984, I was originally supposed to be born in Nov. (not sure of the exact date). From what my mom explained to me, I was 1lb. 6oz., on a fedding tube, on a heart monitor for the first 8 months of my life, and in one of those special cribs (not sure what they are called). Had double hernia surgery at the age of 2yrs old, and from then had some learning issues. But I am glad the doctors kept me around when I was that small and decided not to discard me. I do know that the doctors told me mom back then that if she wanted to abort me she could, becuase they did not know what my outcome would be. They explained to her that I would basically be a veggie (deaf, blind, and unable to walk).

glad I am here today!

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BTW, I forgot to mention in my post, but Netflix is currently streaming "Little Man." I watched it the other day and it would serve as a great reality check for parents in this position. But how do you delicately say, "Here we want you to watch a story about a 23 weeker and what he went through and how he is today"? I think that it may undermine the efforts of the NICU, however, the movie does show the great lengths that they went through to save Nicolas, and he's far from the miracle baby often showcased on Discovery Health.

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Specializes in NICU.
BTW, I forgot to mention in my post, but Netflix is currently streaming "Little Man." I watched it the other day and it would serve as a great reality check for parents in this position. But how do you delicately say, "Here we want you to watch a story about a 23 weeker and what he went through and how he is today"? I think that it may undermine the efforts of the NICU, however, the movie does show the great lengths that they went through to save Nicolas, and he's far from the miracle baby often showcased on Discovery Health.

We have a video library with videos on breastfeeding, pumping, etc. This could certainly go on the shelf as an option for them to check out.

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Specializes in pediatrics.
last night in our level 3 unit, out team with over to l&d for a code. it was for a 22 and 3/7 weeker! they coded that poor kid for 50 mins:mad:. has anyone ever heard of this? has any one taken care of an infant under 23 weeks and it lived even an few days. after 26 years somedays i just wounder what is next. how low can we go?!:confused:

this is so dis-heartening, no - disgusting! poor fetal baby.

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Specializes in Neonatal ICU.

50min!? That is sooo sad :(

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I do have an update on Little Man Nicholas James. He turned 12 last March and his mother Nicole Conn put up a video. She finds it so happy but my hurt hurts inside as he can barely say "thank you" for a colorful fiberoptic toy that he becomes engaged about, extremely far from normal for a 12 year old boy.

Happy 12th Birthday to My Little Man” Nicholas! | Nicole Conn

Another family update: As said before, the demands on a relationship can be catastrophic. The lesbian couple divorced 2 years after the film came out. The mom whose eggs were not used was the one who dissolved the relationship. She didn't want to be his parent anymore to the point that she wanted her name taken off his name. His mother, Gwen Baba, originally had both both children's names hyphenated to Baba-Conn but in the final divorce decree, Gwen wanted her name removed from Nicolas' name, so Nicholas would just be Nicholas Conn.

Very sad and serious if she went to the point that she did not just want to be divorced from Nicole, she wanted to be divorced from Nicole as well. This is not uncommon when families have to face long term care for a child from NICU care.

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Specializes in RNC-NIC, C-ELBW, C-NNIC.

Its a gray area since a couple days off in gestation could actually mean the infant is a 23wker. With that being said, we do take infants a couple days shy of 23 wks and they have survived and are doing well. :)

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Specializes in NICU.
last night in our level 3 unit, out team with over to l&d for a code. it was for a 22 and 3/7 weeker! they coded that poor kid for 50 mins:mad:. has anyone ever heard of this? has any one taken care of an infant under 23 weeks and it lived even an few days. after 26 years somedays i just wounder what is next. how low can we go?!:confused:

oh yes.. its currently my primary patient. Born 22 4/7. Male. Made it, now he is 29 5/7 weeks. 3lb 7oz now. Dealing with premie issues but not horrible ones. Its our third 22 weeker within the last 3 years who made it and went home.. No one said went home without issues...but made it. Once our first one survived..you know... :)

We try to talk parents out of even attempting..we should not even go to delivery. But even after giving them survival rates..they were begging to try. We agreed to one round of epi and intubation. Once the first one made it..we tried again..and this one made it. Hmmm. There is a fine line here between unethical and what if dates are wrong... Its a hot topic. :) But once we have a baby on the table..we do our best and assess ourselves to go on or stop and let them go..

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Specializes in NICU, PICU, PACU.

We have had a run of 22 weekers...not good news for any of them. I have completely mixed feelings. Really bad heads, NEC, renal failure. Just not a good time in our unit lately.

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Specializes in Community, OB, Nursery.
We have had a run of 22 weekers...not good news for any of them. I have completely mixed feelings. Really bad heads, NEC, renal failure. Just not a good time in our unit lately.

((((hugs)))) NicuGal.

Tough spot to be in.

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Specializes in NICU.

We have quite a few 22 weekers in our unit currently as well. I have very mixed feelings about it.

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