1 lb preemie delivered on RCCL

[sweetpee_1993]

A baby born 15 weeks early does not have "fully developed lungs," as the article stated. The whole article is very odd. And the baby may be alive but lord only knows what was going on while they were saying he was dead. If the brain was deprived of oxygen for that long (and I doubt they were administering any since they pronounced him dead), then there are very serious long-term consequences that child will face.

On our 1k+ mile drive from a cruise....reading this for the first time...

I think I'm going with what my husband is thinking. Mom had to have been further along than what she is claiming. Had to have been. She probably just didn't look obvious pregnant (some women are like that). If the baby was crying its lungs were pretty developed and that is not indicative of a 15 wk early baby. My cousin's twin micro-preemies were born at the same gestation these people claim and...just....no. I don't buy it. I know what my cousin's children have been thru. So yeah, I don't buy it. And of course none of the medical staff or the cruise line can comment due to privacy so it's all what the parents state. A miracle story certainly sells better for contributions than admitting they willfully disregarded policies put in place to protect against these medical emergencies.

 

[MaleficentRN]

it is interesting to me that medical staff on a cruise ship would not have neonatal resuscitation equipment onboard.

They don't stock these because there isn't supposed to be anyone over 24 weeks pregnant or any babies younger than 6 months onboard.

 

[Swimmergirl]

This story truly amazes me. My son (now 11) was born 15 weeks early and weighed 1 lb 4 oz. He barely survived, and that was with the absolute best medical care available provided immediately. At that stage his skin was still so thin it looked pink and raw, his eyes were fused shut, he didn't have the lung capacity to cry, and his heart still had a hole in it for blood to bypass his lungs. And the medical community viewed him as lucky for having lived at all. He is doing well now, but did suffer a severe brain bleed and vision issues. I'm not saying this miracle didn't happen, but based on my experience if the story happened as it has been described it is a true miracle! The baby still has a long road ahead and I hope will have a happy ending.

 

[sweetpee_1993]

This story truly amazes me. My son (now 11) was born 15 weeks early and weighed 1 lb 4 oz. He barely survived, and that was with the absolute best medical care available provided immediately. At that stage his skin was still so thin it looked pink and raw, his eyes were fused shut, he didn't have the lung capacity to cry, and his heart still had a hole in it for blood to bypass his lungs. And the medical community viewed him as lucky for having lived at all. He is doing well now, but did suffer a severe brain bleed and vision issues. I'm not saying this miracle didn't happen, but based on my experience if the story happened as it has been described it is a true miracle! The baby still has a long road ahead and I hope will have a happy ending.

My cousin's micro-preemie twins were each about 1 1/2 lbs, too. Same gestation as your son. And you described their precarious, miraculous start in life to a T. It was incredible they survived with the top-notch NICU care they had. I won't say that miracles don't happen but what was described sounds pretty far out there to me as well. And my knowledge is pretty limited.

 

[sambycat]

They don't stock these because there isn't supposed to be anyone over 24 weeks pregnant or any babies younger than 6 months onboard.

true BUT there isn't a huge size difference in endotracheal tube size for the neonate that they would have and i would expect some kind of resuscitative action on the part of medical staff. you just would. at the minimum you would be bagging the kid. in any event, even when you get stuck in situations you should not be in, that's still where you are. i agree with others in that the timeline doesn't add up. but it's more just such a weird story and being an anesthesia provider, it just gets my mind going.

 

[MaleficentRN]

true BUT there isn't a huge size difference in endotracheal tube size for the neonate that they would have and i would expect some kind of resuscitative action on the part of medical staff. you just would. at the minimum you would be bagging the kid. in any event, even when you get stuck in situations you should not be in, that's still where you are. i agree with others in that the timeline doesn't add up. but it's more just such a weird story and being an anesthesia provider, it just gets my mind going.

Yes. There are many things we aren't privy to in this story. But I have to disagree with you here: There is a huge difference between a 2.5 and a 3.5 ett. Intubating a 24 ish weeker with a 2.5 tube and a 00 blade is an incredible challenge.

 

[sambycat]

a challenge yes, but what i am getting at is that if you have equipment to intubate a newborn (and i think they moved it now to 6 months old but i'm just musing here), typically you want to have equipment larger and smaller than what you are supposed to need and i'm just saying any pedi airway cart would be more likely to have a tube or a smaller blade as opposed to like a ventilator or something (i know space is at a premium). in any event, its so weird and would be heinous for the family but also for the staff.

ETA being OCD is what makes me good at my job and i fully realize that there is much work i wouldn't choose to do because of what i personally would deem necessary which apparently is all the tubes and all the blades! ha!

 

[PrincessBrit]

Here's a more recent article on this with more details around the birth:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/news/...eemie-is-born-on-a-cruise-ship-and-survives/#

 

[sambycat]

That last story makes one zillion times more sense. Very sad.

 

[Bree]

That story makes a lot more sense than other reports. I'm amazed he lived.

 

[wilkeliza]

Here's a more recent article on this with more details around the birth:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/news/...eemie-is-born-on-a-cruise-ship-and-survives/#

This makes so much more sense. They were either trying to make the cruise line sound terrible to push donations or the first few interviewers wrote terrible articles. Sounds like their poor little guy is going to have an uphill battle most of his life.

 

[Wish I lived in Fl]

This makes so much more sense. They were either trying to make the cruise line sound terrible to push donations or the first few interviewers wrote terrible articles. Sounds like their poor little guy is going to have an uphill battle most of his life.

What I don't understand is why didn't the mom seek medical help immediately to try and stop the contractions.

Not that I would have booked a cruise while pregnant either.

I knew a baby born 3 months premature. The baby was in the hospital most of his life and always in a crisis before he died at a year and a half.

 

[wilkeliza]

What I don't understand is why didn't the mom seek medical help immediately to try and stop the contractions.

Not that I would have booked a cruise while pregnant either.

I knew a baby born 3 months premature. The baby was in the hospital most of his life and always in a crisis before he died at a year and a half.

From my understanding she thought they weren't real contractions until it was too late.


Seems this little guy is in rough shape it they are only allowed to see him every 3 hours. Our nephew spent one night in the NICU (don't think he needed it but they are so worried now that so many little ones end up in the NICU for a few hours) and we were allowed to go back with him 1 at a time as much as we wanted. I was in the NICU, born 8 weeks early back in the 80s, and my mom was there every day from morning to night until I got to go home.

 

[Kiotzu]

Something about the story does't add up but as someone who was born 13 weeks early, 2lbs 1 ounce, and then outgrew expectations to be 6'10" and 220lbs, I hope that this little guy pulls through!

 

[roobug]

Weird that they can only be there every three hours. When my boys were in the NICU we could be there as much as we liked (minus shift changes) as they were in incubators which blocks many sounds - plus with all the noise of the machines they can't hear much over those anyway. We were only allowed to touch them for a few minutes every three hours but we could be beside there bed as much as we liked. Seems really strange that they go to the gym to work out? When our boys were in the hospital we didn't have enough energy to do much other then be at the hospital talk to the doctors and try and sleep.