01 September 2015

After the NICU


Popette was in hospital for a total of 50 days. We were thankful that apart from a little jaundice and being out in the big wide world too early, she didn't have anything wrong with her.

Popette sucking on her premmie sized dummy

Finally at home
We can still remember the nurses saying to us "She's a premmie growing up".

Our darling girl finally came home at 7 weeks of age (equiv. 36 weeks gestation) weighing 2.1kg. She was still so tiny, especially in the new car seat we only had fitted the day before. As she was so small my hubby had trouble strapping her into the car seat, and was scared that she'd fall out so I sat in the back with her holding her hand.

When we finally got her home we laid her in her new bassinette in her room, then after a while, moved her out to the lounge room so we could keep an eye on her and be close to her.

Even though Popette was out of hospital, we still encountered problems with her being born early. As she was so small I had difficulty latching her on to my breast. She also couldn't suck properly as she was tongue-tied. I persisted with the breastfeeding for months as I wanted to give her the nutrients she needed, but with flat nipples and a low milk supply (due to PCOS & trauma from the birth) it made it even more difficult. I expressed every 3 hours and took motilium to build up my milk supply but unfortunately the amount I was producing wasn't enough to keep up with her demands, so for a while we comp-fed then moved her to formula full-time.

She also had a habit of holding her breathe while sleeping, which scared the crap out of us. Thankfully that didn't last too long.

She is now my big girl who will be 7 in January. She is a sweet, funny and caring girl who loves writing stories, painting, riding her bike and playing with her little sister.


As a Mermaid for Book Week parade

This is my last post from my "Having a Premmie" series. Thank you to those of you who have come on this journey with me. I hope that anyone who has friends or relatives going through a similar situation will find my series useful.

13 comments:

  1. Oh wow! So tiny and then so grown up! Thanks for sharing your story and linking up with #TeamIBOT

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  2. Oh, so very tiny! I remember moving the basinette into the lounge room with our first bub, just wanting to hear their every breath and I can imagine it would be even moreso with a tiny premmie.

    And what a huge effort persisting with the breastfeeding as long as you did. Awesome effort!

    xx

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  3. So tiny indeed! It's amazing how these little ones can be so strong and grow to be such fascinating kids. Thanks for sharing your story.

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  4. Julie, she's grown into such a darling little possum x

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  5. Oh Julie, She really is precious. Thank you so much for sharing hers and your story with us. I can only imagine how helpful this will be for someone at the start of their premmie journey xx

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  6. So sweet, Julie. Look how much she's grown! My boys came home from NICU at 1.8 kgs and 2.3kgs. It really is so very fragile those first days at home.

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  7. Thanks for sharing your story. Those going throught the same will find your words so reassuring. What a cute little mermaid. Zoe xx

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