PreMeMom05

if we were assigned an ethical paper in my nursing class i would write it about whether or not steps should be taken to save micropreemies. i have read more than a few articles lately about it and everytime i do i get all fired up again! my son was a micropreemie and i am glad that the doctors didn't ask me if we wanted them to save him or not...i would have been livid if they even considered not doing all they could. as you can tell i get very wound up about this topic...sorry! and since that little man documentary has been shown on hbo all i've heard about is how lucky i am to have a healthy baby now but why did i let him go through all that. okay...i have to go cool off now:) good luck on your paper! heather

I'm sorry I didn't want my post to seem so defensive and I realize there are many reason for this to happen...but it can be tough never knowing why!

My son was born at 25 weeks and 3 days. Tuesday I cleaned my house top to bottom because my nesting mama instinct seemed to be kicking in and I went to sleep Tuesday night feeling a little funny "down there", almost like I had a tampon in or something. But of course I didn't think anything of it really. Wednesday I still felt funny but I just figured it was part of pregnancy since this was my first time past six weeks when I miscarried previously. By Wednesday evening I started having irregular contractions and went to the hospital because there were getting worse and worse and closer together. Once at the hospital I was examined and determined to be 6 centimeters and my bag of waters was beginning to come thru. I began to have light bleeding and was repositioned trendelenberg. I guess the doctor hoped gravity might help put everything back where it belonged! Well to make a long story short he was delivered Wednesday afternoon by emergency c-section because he kicked his foot thru my water down the birth canal and was trying to deliever himself foot first! Honestly, if I hadn't started contracting I may have been 10 centimeters and delievery a baby at home before I knew what was happening! I just wanted to share my story because I was not using any sort of drugs or alcohol to cause this. I've never even smoked a cigarette! I realize the baby in the original post was born positive for drugs but I just don't want anyone to believe this always the case. Until reading thread I never realized how lucky I am to have a healthy 25 weeker. I knew I was lucky to be a mommy and have a preemie without long term problems so far but now I feel super lucky. Heather, nursing student ***I just started my LPN Program and I am so excited to be joining the nursing field.***

I just finished reading about the Ballard Test/Assestment and all I have to say is thank god I wasn't there when they did this on my 25 weeker. I surely would have needed to be hospitalized myself! He's my only child and I don't know how well I would have handled all that bending. He was so tiny and fragile looking I probably would have passed out to see someone bending him around like a gumby doll even if it was neccesary. I think all in all I was very good in the NICU about the care my son was receiving from all those angels (nurses). They were great about explaining everything to us prior to start the procedure. Whenever they saw a worried look come over my husband or myself they were right there to help and explain. I even got to feed Toby his first bottle since the primary nurse felt I had what was needed to get the job done! But she had to burp him and at first I thought she was going to knock him thru the wall! The kid only weighed three pounds! By the time he was on his third bottle Toby and I had the whole feeding/burping thing down pat...although my mother-in-law tells everyone I'm hitting him not burping him and he will be scarred for life because of it. If being burped is his only scar of his NICU life I will feel blessed. Heather

I just wanted to thank all the NICU nurses out there. My son was born in January 2005 at 25 weeks 3 days gestation for unknown reasons and spent a total of 75 days at two different NICU's in Upstate New York. Today I pulled out the valentine picture the nurses took of my tiny baby last year and just can't believe what a difference a year makes! Last year we could only hold him for 15-20 minutes two times a day to make sure I didn't overstimulate his nervous system, and today I'm lucky to have my arms free for five minutes! Not that I'm complaining... And now I have enrolled in an LPN program hoping to give back a little bit to the medical field that has given so much to me and my husband. I've always been interested in the nursing field and my son has given me the push I needed to succeed in school. So today, Valentines Day, I want to thank all the NICU nurses for your hard work and long days to help out each and every preemie family. We really do appreciate all that you do even if you only hear it when discharging a baby! Thank you, Heather

I took the NY BOCES LPN Entrance Exam yesterday and passed! Yeah! Classes start at the end of March at the DCMO BOCES for me and I'm already nervous. As for the test itself, it was pretty easy, just highschool math and reading comprehension. You may want to brush up on your fractions (adding, subtracting, multiplying, dividing, reducing, ect.) if you've been out of school for awhile. There's also a section at the end with lots of personal questions that is supposed to rate your stress levels and ability to cope with stress. But I'm not sure how accurate because my job is supposed to be my biggest stress...but I'm not working! And my family is supposed to give me my least amount of stress...huh? Whoever came up with the rating system doesn't have a preemie at home! 25 weekers can be tough! And he's already one, but things certainly aren't getting easier! Anyway, good luck on the test. Heather P.S. Not to butt in on the notches on the pencil thing...but the test is on a computer so I really don't think this would help you since we didn't have to measure anything.