8 weeks early

Well, Allan decided at barely under 31 weeks, he wanted to come into the world...but we had other plans. My wife was put in the hospital a few weeks ago to stop early labor. They held it off for 10 days (she was in the hospital the entire time). As of last Friday, Oct 1, Allan got tired of waiting and let everyone know he wasn't going to be put off any longer. So Friday night (32 weeks), the little goofball finally got his wish when the doctors performed a c section to remove the young lad from his temporary home in mommy's belly.

I'm amazed how well a 8 week premature baby looks (mine anyway) and how well he's doing. He's breathing on his own, eating on his own (breast milk via bottle) and has no unusal problems. He has a slight bit of jaundice, but not bad enough for the doctors to recommend doing anything other than waiting to see if it clears up on it's own...and he sometimes has trouble keeping his body temp up to where it should be, but he seems to be getting that under control. He'll be in the neonatal ICU until the doctors are confident he's ok to take home. From all indications, this will be 2 to 3 weeks.

I snapped a few pictures of him.
http://www.pbase.com/kygarden/allan



This message was edited Oct 6, 2004 8:59 AM

What a sweetie! Thank you so much for sharing! Thank goodness everything is going so well for him! He looks GREAT! Mom looked great too!! Wish I looked that good after having mine LOL! Congrats!!!!

CONGRATULATIONS!! He is beautiful!!

My Jessica was born at 32 weeks, I too was in the hospital for about a week while they tried to stop the contractions. She was 4lbs 2 oz and I was in love. She had to be fed thru a tube the first week but was and is very healthy. She also had to be put on a portable heart monitor for about 4 months as a precaution but it never set off any alarms except for when I accidentaly popped off one of the wires.
She was in the hospital 3 weeks and then I brought her home so Id say the time you were given is right on. Today she is taller than me with an attitude of an almost 15 year old and I am still in love.
Oh he is just so beautiful.

Just a pic to show you they do grow up.

how precious he is and tiny! i will say a prayer for all of you!
how big is he!

Congratulation!! Thanks for sharing.. :o)

What wonderful news! I'm sure he will be a great little gardening buddy!

What a Blessing - your new babe is precious! Congratulations!

Thanks :) And that's good to here, Dravencat. I've read a lot of stories from people that had them around 31/32 weeks and the complications were very few for the most part. I try not to get too optimistic, just in case something happens. But for right now, I can't say anything other than he's doing awesome. He's never had to feed with a tube, never needed help breathing, etc. So far he's a real fighter for being out of his element 2 months early.

I see some of the other kids in the ICU near mine and I can't help but feel bad for those parents. Some of them are MUCH earlier than mine and they look horrible. It's really sad. I hope they do well.

Hey one more thing... YAAAA on the breast milk!!!!!

Hes doing great, and so are you, by the time he turns 5 you will never know he was a preemie and he will be doing all the wonderful baby things right on time. You wont notice anything slow in that boy, LOL.
Now I need stats like notmartha, how much did he weigh, how long, ect. you know the drill. LOL


I remember all those babies in ICU, it is sad, we can only hope God watches out for those little ones and have parents that visit often, from what I could tell it can make a big difference in those little hearts.

Congratulations, HC! Cute fellow there.

I sold neonatal equipment many years ago. Sad seeing the ones that are not fighters.

4 lbs 7 oz. 18" long/tall

Perfect

Wow! That seems tall to me considering his age!! Mine was 21 1/2 full term! You may have a basketball player on your hands!

Jess was 17

Congratulations, he is a dandy.

You know, the doctors said they can't find any reason why he had to come early. Mom was perfectly fine, he was perfectly fine, etc. Other than him being breached and the fluid level being slightly below normal, everything was normal. Nothing unusual found after examining her during/after the c scetion either. Personally, knowing how big he was at 32 weeks, my uneducated guess is that he was simply getting too big for her body. This is a woman that was 5'4" and weighed about 108 lbs before getting pregnant and she was 135 lbs when he was born. Since the fluid level was slightly low and he was getting big, I doubt he would have ever turned to be head-down like he should have. Imagine this were the 'old days' before modern medicine. She and the baby would likely have died since he wasn't likely to turn before she went into labor - even if going full term.

You are so right! We are lucky we have more advances in science these days..

By the way - I couldn't help but sneak a peek at your grasses while on your webpage.. WOW! My dream yard! I just love grasses!

Thanks, that's one of my favorite beds in the garden. It's also one of my least favorite chores in the spring/late winter...trying to cut all that down and haul it off to the burn pile. It creates a HUGE amount of stalks and blades. The stalks are too big to compost (most of it is like bamboo)...so it has to be burnt. I suppose I could find a spot to let it break down on it's own over a few years rather than burning it.

I dump mine in the woods behind my house - just as long as no one builds there! If you ever want to do a trade... not trying to get off the subject though! Babies!!

What a doll he is! Congrats to you guys!
...and I agree, mom looks great!

Congratulations from myself and my identical premie twins, Rebecca (1lb 11 oz) and Elizabeth (1lb 9oz). They are now 41 years old, have never had a childhood disease or a single tooth cavity. Between them they have six children and one grandchild. These little ones are truly amazing, enjoy!!!
Pati

How gorgeous he is!! Congratulations!

My daughter Henrietta will be 11 on October 20 and was due January 25th. She weighed 2.2 lbs and I took her home putting tubes into her nose to feed her. She is absolutely fine and dandy now. Always in a hurry though!

He is just beautiful. Congratulations.

I'm definitely encouraged by all the 2 pounder preemie stories I've heard here and other places. I was really worried he'd have some big problems if he was born this early...and I still worry a little about developmental issues down the road, but I don't see why he'd have trouble assuming he's perfectly healthy now - which he appears to be. I just can't get over the fact that he's 2 months premature and looks as good as he does.

Obviously good genes and handsome parents!
Pati

Jon! Congrats!
I am sorry he was so early and scared you badly I bet. BUT, you have so much in your favor is he is breathing and eating well! He is really good size to be so early too! I know there is nothing I can say to take away your worries, but I really think he is gonna grow and grow and be just fine!

There was a time when babies had to stay in the hospital for as long as they were early but thank goodness that has changed! They also used to have to stay til they hit 5 pounds and your little guy is so close anyway. I am sure this has been hard on you two but you'll have him home soon and all will be great! If you need anything, let me know.

Make sure you tell that wife of yours, what a great job she has done. If she is the Lisa in the pics, she looks wonderful! Us girlie folk get an idea in our head of how things should go and well, sometimes it just does not work out that way. It is easy to beat yourself up or wish you had done this or that different and it wouldn't have changed a thing. He was ready to be here now. :) The first time around is always different anyway.

I can't wait to see how he grows. MORE PICS!! Oh, please. :)

Edited for easier reading. :)

This message was edited Oct 6, 2004 7:40 PM

What a beautiful precious child. Asking God to bless all of you with peace, health, and happiness today and always!

May JESUS bless this precious little one with normal growth, good health, and no residual problems from this early arrival.

Our little grandson Skyler was born 5 weeks early last year and is absolutely 'normal' and very intellegent and corordinated now. You would never know he was a serious premie. He weighed in at 5#7oz and about 18-19 inches long.

Ahhh, HC .. one fine and dandy lookin' lil man .. that you guys have been blessed with !!

The pics you'd posted (at the link you gave) .. are some mitey fantastic shots too!
Those b&w's are really great !! He's a mitey lil feller .. with his Pop holding him there
on {your} chest in the one pic ... And Lisa is lookin' mitey chipper and spry already too!
( .. new Moms are truly extra beautiful .. you know ... )

Hooray for Lisa and the breast milk bottles !! And it'll be double hoorays when she's able to
get around to givin' 'im the real stuff from the faucet ...

I'm just thrilled and delighted for you guys!

SUPER DOOPER CONGRATULATIONS to you all !!!

Also, convey the same .. to them thar new 'mawmaws and pawpaws' .. that are surely,
most anxiously waiting on the side-lines .. to grab hold of that lil blessed bundle too!!

- magpye

Jon, I just saw this thread. Congratulations, daddy and mommy! Allan looks great, what a blessing. I'm so happy for you guys!

Quick update. Like I said he's 8 weeks premature...but he's doing very well. Here he is, eyes wide open and sucking on a bottle this evening at the hospital. Picture is not so great because it was taken at ISO 1600 because I didn't want to blind the little guy with a flash :)
http://www.pbase.com/kygarden/image/34766900.jpg

:) Looks content!

Congratulations! That Allan is one handsome fella. Did you know it was a boy before he arrived?
How is he doing now, is he home yet?

Thanks. We knew it was a boy. He's not home yet, but he's doing just fine. They told he he'll probably come home this coming Wed as long as there are no problems that pop up. It's looking good right now.

My niece was born at 32 weeks and weighed exactly 4 pounds.

She just turned 12 and is doing 9th grade math, reading French History, plays the violin,mandolin,piano,drums and saxaphone. She is also on the school soccer team and rides a horse in ring competition.

Hold on to your hat....and enjoy things while he's little...he'll be dragging you to all sorts of activities before very long!

That's great and melody is right, soon you will have what I call bleacher butt!

I won't discourage him from getting in volved in sports and so on, if he wants to do that...lol...but my plans are to brainwash him into thinking that mowing grass, gardening and riding the tractor mowing off the field is what's really awesome...hehe Seriously though, I'll get him out early and teach him the ropes in the garden, lawn care, cutting trees, mending fences, working on the lawnmowers and cars, doing phone work (my occupation)...and that should keep him pretty occupied :) After that he can pick what he wants to do. Chances are, by spending a lot of time with him doing things his daddy enjoys, he'll naturally enjoy doing those things as well. That's the plan anyway. I want to give him a good life. Not all about money...but learning the value of a good work ethic, etc. :)

That sure can't hurt. Just being involved is the main thing but they sometimes have minds of their own!

here's my preemie turning 19 last sunday. he was 'only' 7weeks early but was huge. 5.5#, 17". keep the preemie clothes - you'll be amazed in a while that he fit in them at one time. enjoy the years - they fly by so quickly!