Brief introduction to Destiny's current situation.

[liz.preemiemom]

HI my name is Liz and I'm a preemie mom (HI LIZ!).

Does that phrase ever feel like a confession to anyone other than me?I wanted to introduce myself and a little bit about our situation.

My daughter's name is Destiny and she was born at 30 weeks 3 days gestation due to severe pre-eclampsia and HELLP syndrome. She was IUGR (growth restricted), so she weighed in at 900 grams, which is just under two pounds, and due to gas in her belly at birth she SHOULD have weighed 1 lb 9 oz. She was labeled the size of a 24 weeker as well as a micro-preemie. Her actual birthday is May 21 and she was due on July 27.  I received two shots of the betamethasone steroid before she was born, 48 hours on the first and 24 hours on the second.

Destiny spent 45 days (6 1/2 weeks)  in the NICU, came home on July 04 (Independance day will always be different from now on...), and has been back to the hospital 7 times since, two of which were to the E.R. and then admissions. Destiny has GERD (acid reflux) that has caused her to aspirate fluid into her lungs and gave her a mild case of pneumonia. She spent 5 days in the hospital due to it, and should she aspirate again, she will be getting an NJ feeding tube which leads into the small intestine. This is so she can (hopefully) safely outgrow her reflux rather than jump in and get the nissen fundoplication surgery.

[CafeMom Admin]

Oct. 6, 2008 at 3:58 PM

Hi liz.preemiemom,

Welcome to CafeMom.

We're happy you've joined the conversation.

Enjoy!

> The CafeMom Admin Team

[Beckybelle]

Oct. 28, 2008 at 7:57 PM

Just wanted to say hi, I'm a preemie mom as well. My son was born at 32 weeks because the blood flow through his umbilical cord was starting to reverse. It's all very scary when they're tiny!