Premature babies support group

Kelly,
Nice and touching story!

David,
Danya looks very fair and chubby. So cute.
She is ok to sit on potty? If she scared to change diaper maybe a good time to let her use potty. But got to be patient cos we have to let them sit on potty every one to two hours. And also get ready to clean up if they really shit or wet the pants.

I've several questions here for KKH mother. Since i gave birth in SGH and everything was in a hurry that time, up til now I'm still not too sure how I got the subsidised rate for my baby's NICU stay that time. All I know is we need to get into the gov hospital, and get the lowest ward grade, and any doctor can deliver for you. And baby NICU cost depends on mother's hosp ward.

But when you have prenatal check up did you all have a fixed doctor to see in KKH? Since i believe some of you are aware that you are under high risk group. Do you go through the Polyclinic to get referral letter before you go to KKH? If you are in B1 ward, can you still get subsidy for baby's NICU stay?
 


Aixin,

I delivered in KKH so I may have some of the answers to your qns..
My twins did have followups with a fixed dr. I believe it's by birthweight or gestational age..not sure which.

I'm not sure about the Polyclinic referral.. maybe you can try calling your current Dr following up in SGH or call Polyclinic before you go down. Alternatively you can also call Clinic K in KKH..that's where all the preemies go for followup.

I always thought C and B2 are subsidised only..Did you downgrade before delivery? In any case in KKH even if you gave birth in C/B2, you could quickly downgrade the baby's class to C and get subsidized rate. Not sure about B1/A. Sorry.
 
Aixin,
I switched to KK from East Shore because I knew I would most likely have premature delivery. Got referral letter from polyclinic and chose ward C to get the subsidy. Saw a diff doc each time.
 
Hi David,
Thanks for sharing the lovely pics of Danya. She will catch up with her weight one day. Look at her, so LOVE & Cheery !! She is beautiful
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Wife & U did a GREAT JOB!!!! Seeing her grow up over the past 8months since I join this thread is amazing.

Hi Costa,
any new pic of Bern to share too ?

I know & understand...It's really heart aching when our baby is having constipation. Especially the phobia they have after the episodes... when they crying .. I want to cry too
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Recently I started the boys on semi solid food.. I still very paranoid and cautions about feeding them besides milk. #1 Tyler has the same issue of NEC & stoma reconnection. While #2 Travis has reflux issues. But seeing them enjoying and love taking cereal & puree so much...I gaining more confidence each day.

Here is the latest pic of them taken last sat. CA 5 Mths.
It's amazing looking at each milestones they pass...
(Tyler was 950g spent 115 days in KK with NEC, stoma reconnection & ROP Stage 3 laser done , now 7.8kg)
While (Travis 860g stayed for 92 days, ROP stage 3 laser done too and having reflux for 3.5 mths of severe vomiting at every feeding is now 7kg)
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Hi chewy,
Your boys grow so well! Funny, one seems very cheeky n playful the other one is so serious.

Onefish,
Thanks a lot for answering. I'll call KKH later.
 
Hi Chewy,

Your twins are so cute. Do they baby talk in their own twin baby language? Saw on youtube a pair of twins go dah dah dah. Quite funny and cute.
 
Hi Aixin,
Thx ! Yes the one whom is serious looks like my hubby. While the cheeky one like me when we are baby. It's fair I guess
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LAWW,
They don't talk in their own language yet. But they does things together . The one on the Left is Big brother and he love to touch the younger one everytime we put them together.

I hope all is good. Keep fighting and have faith
 
hi mummies and daddies,

do any of you experience little warrior rejecting milk? my son CA10 mths old, recently been rejecting milk and i could only fed him while he is half asleep but since last week, problem gotten worse...he is rejecting milk totally.

i have changed bottle and changed fomular and am getting worried!

any advise or experience to share?

thanks much!
 
Bubbly_me,
Mine (CA 5 months) also rejects milk. I dun wanna switch to fm so I just feed her in her sleep (bottle or latch).
 
Has any mummies use the baby monitor breathing mat...Tik it's quite useful for preemies! I used similar breathing monitor before and found it quite useful when my twins got discharged. It helped as my twins has apnea but has already grew out of it....

Saw this other monitor that i think it's not too bad.....so for all preemies' mummies/ daddies to consider!!

http://www.ibabyguard.com/
 
Hi,

Thanks everyone for the advice for my questions earlier. I have a couple more qns.

Can my bb (CA 38+ weeks) drink water? I understand from the nurses that bb shouldn't drink water at this point as there's no nutrients and they are expending energy in drinking. I told my mil this but she insist on letting bb drink water. This is partly due to baby on partial FM and not passing motion for 1 day. The nurse told me it's ok not to pass motion for 1 or 2 days.

I also have another concern as my bb seems to be drinking too much milk in my opinion. Based on her weight (2.6kg), she should only be drinking abt 50ml per 3 hours but she can actually finish 70ml of fm or 60ml of ebm each time. She doesn't have bloated stomach either. Is she undergoing growth spurt? Yesterday, she was crying for milk barely 1.5hrs after drinking 50ml of ebm.
 
Bubbly - I tried changing size of teat. It helped a little but baby still gets impatient n distracted after a while. I also noticed he is less resistant to chilled ebm so I mixed FEBM with chilled ones. Am also trying ways n means to encourage him to finIsh his feeds

Kelly - do u hv Appt with dietician? They will be able to chart ur baby weight n advise how u can increase the feeds.
my dietician says 5ml increase per week is ok for my baby but this projection is based on my baby growth. I hv difficulty increasing feeds cos baby is quite hard to feed n hardly hungry...
 
kelly,

just a quick reply because I'm also making a bottle of milk haha. It's ok to feed on demand at this point. 60 ml/3 hrs doesn't seem like that much. Just be sensitive to baby's needs..if she drinks more at one feeding then don't force her to drink the required "dose" at the next. My bb also went through growth spurt about this point..we were told to feed 45ml/3 hours..end up just feeding on demand because baby would cry anyway if she wanted more.
 
oops forgot to add...best not to add water at this point. Bb is quite young..you might mess up the electrolytes in the milk. Anyway BM is quite watery. 1-2 days w/o passing motion is still ok. If its like 5 days then i might worry or use Vaseline..
 
Kelly, just checked my notes. My bb was discharged at 37 weeks @ 2.3kg. Feeding 45ml/3hr. After a few days at home we just fed on demand. She gained 1 kg in 20 days to weigh 3.35kg on her due date. So your bb may be having a growth spurt or catch up growth if she is always hungry. Of course if you feel its really odd, consult a dr/nurse.
 
Thanks thanks. I checked my appointment cards, do not have one with dietician. Maybe its one of the appt At the o&g clinic. Didn't force her to finish the next dose. She simply finishes it. Maybe it's a good problem to have.

Regarding size of teats, we use a combination of teats. When drinking formula, we change the teat to size m after she slows down and the sucking weakens. This reduces her time from 45 mins to 25 mins. But I also question myself whether this is good for her coz size m is meant for bb 3-6 months old.
 
Hi All,

A quick question.

When your baby moved from CPAP to nasal prongs, did your baby lost weight? and how long did it take for the baby to recover and start gaining weight again?

Appreciate any information you can provide.

Thank You.
 
no weight loss from CPAP -- > prongs, but when my son moved from ventilator to CPAP he didn't gain weight for one month, probably because it took so much energy to breathe by himself. We were all very worried..but after awhile he got stronger and weight gain picked up. He's still quite underweight though.
 
Hi Onefish, thank you for your reply. much appreciated.

It seems that there is water retention due to usage of CPAP as well as other injections and supplements such as calcium for some time. So when the baby comes of CPAP into nasal prongs, All the water comes off and thus that leads to reduction of weight. After the water is reduce, the baby should put on weight.

This is what the dietician told me. They are waiting for all the water to clear then they will measure the weight and give the appropriate level of feeding etc.

Hmmm... anyone else care to share your experience?
 
Hi Suda,

Thanks for the link, very informative!
Like onefish, my baby didn't experience weight loss when he moved from cpap to Nasal prongs. Guess it depends on the baby. There were short period of time when baby weight was stagnant , dietician will usually review the supplements to be added.
 
Amy,
I alternate latching and bottle (ebm). Took a looooong time and a lot of struggle for bb to finally learn to latch but she only latches when she's fast asleep. It's very difficult for premmie babies to switch from bottle to breast so if you really wanna latch, you have to be very persistent.
 
Amy,

For my twin who eats orally, she only really got the hang of latching at 8 weeks adjusted. It was a terrible battle to get her to latch before that. The breastfeeding was blissful but only lasted until 7 mos adjusted. After that she just preferred the bottle. So no choice..I just pumped for the two of them until 13mos adjusted.
 
Hi Amy,

I did. When my boy was in hospital and once he was able to suck, I requested to the nurse that I would like to try latching on. So everytime I visit him, I would latch him on. However, for most part of the hospital stay, he took the bottle. When he was discharged, I started latching him on again. It wasn't easy because I had to first feed him the oil and multi-vits. Plus, he wasn't drinking as much as I was producing. So I would latch him on for a full feed and then express after that to empty my breast. I had oversupply of milk which I think is a good problem to have! Hee....
 
Hi all, I have a rather silly question to ask. Pardon me.

When I make milk (neosure) for my bb, the ratio is 1 spoonful to 60 ml of water which makes abt 70 ml in total. If my bb increases her feed to say 80 or 90ml etc, how should I proportion the milk powder and water?
 
Hi all, I deliver my bb last thur at week 33 day 4. And weight 2.2 kg and is send to Scn in Kkh. Yesterday the pd told me that his blood test show abnormalities . Can someone advise me on this ?
 
Hi mommies and daddies,
Update on my warrior... Went for heart scan and the 'unnatural hole' has not closed yet.
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cardiologist has given appt for one year later to scan again. Hope the hole closes by then...
 
Hi everyone,

Does anyone know if having a cat in the house cause any issues to a premature baby?

I read that a cat dander can cause issues especially if their lung are not well or allergies etc.

Appreciate if anyone got any experience or information on this or what you did etc...

Thank you so very much!
 
Hi Viman,

Your warrior is a fighter and in time to come, no more hole.

Hi Kelly,

Please find out more from Doc. Doc is always -VE.

Hi Suda,

No cat and please keep the dust level in the house to a minimum if possible.
 
Hi David,

Thank you for the reply. Moving the cat from the house is going to be impossible as my wife is very attached the cat and at her current emotional state if I remove the cat, she will get even more emotional and maybe depressed.

I am trying to find out ways on how others have done this , besides of moving the cat away.

Some items I have read like isolating the cat to only certain places in the house. Keeping the cat and the baby away and never in the same place at any one time. Grooming and bathing the cat every week so as to prevent any dander from flying etc.... but it is all stuff I read, but wanted to see if anyone had any experience.
 
Hi mummies,
Anyone wants to have some bottle caps cover?
These are used by my preemies and as clearing up some of my twins' stuff, found quite a few.

PM if keen!
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Hi Keann

Can check wif u that time during the parent support group, u said there is a Philips blender which can heat by flipping it around.

May I know the model of it?

Thanks
 
finally went for the so-called IQ assessment for VLBW babies. Actually, its not an IQ test. Its more of an assessmuent to assess if my boy can function. The test took us two hours! Faintz... but thankful he passed with flying colors =) The next assessment will be when he is 5 yrs old and the next check with Dr Argarwal is next year!! Yay!! I am so happy that the frequency is getting lesser and lesser.... it has been a long journey.
 
Hi to the new parents,

Any one interested in similac neosure infant milk powder 900g? Highly recommended by docs for babies who need to gain weight.

Am selling off a few tins as baby has reached 75 percentile n dietician advices to switch back to normal formula.

Pls pm me if interested.

Thanks.
 
Hi Chewy

Yup. I heard theres a Philips carnival sales so wish to find out the model and buy the blender. Thanks for the info. Think that should be the blender.

Hi All mummies and daddies

My Elder son just got discharge yesterday. When at home, I found that he never seems to have enough milk. He will latch on forever and if dun stop him at 20 mins per breast. He can keep on rooting and sucking his hand. What should I do? Will try not to feed him formula as he has a history of stomache infection. My wife still need reserve at least 8 bottles of 60ml for my younger twin in hospital. Will he carry on sucking the breast if there is no milk which my wife is worried. Thinking after pumping and letting him suck but there is no milk actually. Really headache...
 
eedaddy,

tough problem..one I faced myself. Eventually I started giving some formula to my discharged twin..but she had no problems with formula..

My opinion-

1. Try letting elder twin nurse all he wants and add in 1 more pumping session to make up for the milk. Mummy should drink more water. Nursing at the breast should stimulate more milk production. Very tough in terms of time and commitment.

2. Consider asking Dr and lactation consultant (at kkh) for Domperidone.

3. No choice..start giving elder twin some formula mixed with breast milk..introduce it slowly and then see how it goes.
 
Hi onefish.

Thanks for your reply.
I at a loss too and my wife cry over it becos she feels that my elder boy is very pitiful as always hungry and need to reserve EBM for the younger boy in SCN. So today I went down to ask Sister Choo, nurse manager for advise about giving my elder boy formula. She called my wife to console her but my wife still too stress up. End up sister Choo suggest give all EBM to the elder boy at home and she ask the dietician about giving formula to my younger boy while in the care of KKH.

Is kinda cruel and painful to make a choice between the 2 boys. Is not say formula is sure danger but got too much scare oredi....
 


I'm anticipating this, but it's so fast that it has already been a month and a few days since my little girl is in SCN. She's coming back home pretty soon for the first time since her weight is nearing 1.95kg!

Just a question, anyone have done infant bathing? I've done once just earlier on today and I'm still not confident. I was very unsure on how to calm and console her when she's in the water.
 

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