1 lb preemie delivered on RCCL

[GoofyDisneyDaddy]

We found that the average time from ovulation to birth was 268 days -- 38 weeks and two days," said Dr Anne Marie Jukic, a postdoctoral fellow in the Epidemiology Branch at the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (Durham, USA), part of the National Institutes for Health. "However, even after we had excluded six pre-term births, we found that the length of the pregnancies varied by as much as 37 days.

The 40 week number is calculated from the first day of last period, and ovulation is typically at about 2 weeks. I know, weird, but that's how we calculate it. Thus, the average being 40 weeks, though technically, for the first 2 weeks, the person isn't actually pregnant. In other words, at conception we call that 2 weeks pregnant.

 

[deide71]

There is no way a 23 week baby survived without very sophisticated medical intervention, intubation, mechanical ventilation, Surfactant administration, central line, feeding tube, etc. 23/24 weeks is the limit of viability in a level 3 nursery, the odds of his baby surviving without sophisticated medical care are minuscule. Something does not add up.

 

[MaleficentRN]

There is no way a 23 week baby survived without very sophisticated medical intervention, intubation, mechanical ventilation, Surfactant administration, central line, feeding tube, etc. 23/24 weeks is the limit of viability in a level 3 nursery, the odds of his baby surviving are minuscule. Something does not add up.

If anything, if perfusion was so bad that extremities were turning black, this kid has got to have brain bleeds.

 

[buzzrelly]

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.

 

[roobug]

I would guess that the bizarre story is because it's from the parents information - the ship can not comment on it or release any information or they will open themselves up to litigation. And if she really was giving birth that early I can bet that they are not remembering things clearly. Plus the parents have motivation to have the story out and sensationalized because they have a go fund me account to get money from people. If they presented the real story that they were traveling after the date they should have been and went into labor and there were difficulties but the cruiseline got them to port quickly and to the hospital - who is going to donate to them?

 

[Chrisey]

There was a story a few months ago of a Canadian couple that went to Hawaii on a babymoon and she went into labor. She had medical insurance but obviously, the baby didn't.... so they had a hospital bill in the millions.
After reading that article I can't imagine travelling out of the country when pregnant, especially a cruise ship.

It seems like the information is being twisted in this case.

 

[mylittlebuttercup]

I used the 1st as an arbitrary number and used 36 weeks since very few women go a full 40.. my wife and I were talking about this and we think that she was closer to the 20 week mark then 24. When my ex was pregnant with my son, her due date changed a few times as well as his estimated age.

Babies cannot survive at 20 weeks. Even at 24 weeks less than half of babies survive. She would have had to be at least 24 weeks.

Also, many women make it to forty or even go overdue. I personally know more people who went overdue than early.

 

[mylittlebuttercup]

We found that the average time from ovulation to birth was 268 days -- 38 weeks and two days," said Dr Anne Marie Jukic, a postdoctoral fellow in the Epidemiology Branch at the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (Durham, USA), part of the National Institutes for Health. "However, even after we had excluded six pre-term births, we found that the length of the pregnancies varied by as much as 37 days.

Pregnancy isn't counted from ovulation; in a person with regular cycles, it is calculated from last menstruation. So when they say 38 weeks from ovulation to birth, the actual pregnancy length would be 40 weeks. Your first two weeks of your pregnancy you aren't actually pregnant.

 

[Donna3271]

That would be me - 1st kid 2 weeks over, 2d & 3rd kids 40 weeks on the dot.

shmoo... me as well. My son was over 2 weeks late. They had to break my water (placenta was very low), and I had to schedule a "C" for my twins. I was not going into labor with them either, and they were both breech.

 

[TestingH2O]

That would be me - 1st kid 2 weeks over, 2d & 3rd kids 40 weeks on the dot.

shmoo... me as well. My son was over 2 weeks late. They had to break my water (placenta was very low), and I had to schedule a "C" for my twins. I was not going into labor with them either, and they were both breech.

See, I was 38 weeks, but, ya know, DD was 11.5 lbs and I didn't have GD. Methinks there was a miscalculation in there somewhere.

 

[Donna3271]

See, I was 38 weeks, but, ya know, DD was 11.5 lbs and I didn't have GD. Methinks there was a miscalculation in there somewhere.

God Bless!!! 11.5 lbs!!! What a Joy! My son was 9 lbs, and I thought that was big!!!

 

[Donna3271]

Eyes and lungs usually do not develop before 24 weeks (from what I've read- not a medical person). I hope this poor baby is OK. Only time will tell.

 

[Maggie'sMom]

See, I was 38 weeks, but, ya know, DD was 11.5 lbs and I didn't have GD. Methinks there was a miscalculation in there somewhere.

Wow! I hope you had some good drugs for that delivery. Did you have an ultrasound early on? When I had my first ultrasound, my due date was pushed a full week later from what they had calculated based on my LMP. And yet, I was induced at 41w1d and had a 6lb 6oz baby.

 

[TestingH2O]

Wow! I hope you had some good drugs for that delivery. Did you have an ultrasound early on? When I had my first ultrasound, my due date was pushed a full week later from what they had calculated based on my LMP. And yet, I was induced at 41w1d and had a 6lb 6oz baby.

I ended up with an unscheduled C when my bp skyrocketed and she wouldn't stay on the monitors. It was clearly time. I had several u/s. She measured big but not outside a normal range to warrant changing my due date. I'm still notorious in the practice for my huge kid.

 

[jdb in AZ]

Eyes and lungs usually do not develop before 24 weeks (from what I've read- not a medical person). I hope this poor baby is OK. Only time will tell.

My nephew was born at 36 weeks weighing 5 lb and still had lung problems, so to have developed lungs when the baby was only 1.5 lb is a bit hard to believe.

 

[jdb in AZ]

Another article: http://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/determined-mom-keeps-1-5-pound-preemie-born-cruise-ship-n434136 If the baby was due Dec 19th but mom went into labor Aug 31st, it appears the baby was 15 weeks early.

 

[buzzrelly]

All of the "parts" are there, so to speak, well before 24 weeks. But they are definitely immature and not fully developed. Lungs may not have enough surfactant until 36-37 weeks. A 24-weeker has lungs about the size of walnuts.

 

[sambycat]

the NBC story linked above seems slightly more..... believable i guess, not as weird (but still weird!) as the first linked report. side note from an anesthesia person here, it is interesting to me that medical staff on a cruise ship would not have neonatal resuscitation equipment onboard. i mean, there is only so much you can do, and i wouldn't expect full on NICU or any kind of ICU, but it is shocking to me they wouldn't have )or use as seems to be the case here) appropriately sized ETTs and have fluids and an actual warmer (although the word "makeshift" could mean many things and i am sure there are ways to keep babies and kids warm). it still seems really weird, at least this report (aside from the medical staff telling people "baby is dead oh wait baby is alive") make s it sound like the ship was trying to get to a port which seems like what they would do. i would think minimally you would intubate the baby and bag that kid all the way to port.

poor kiddo and parents.

 

[deanimal]

It seems very strange to me too. However, I don't see why a cruise ship would have appropriately sized equipment on board. If no one over 24 weeks pregnant or less than 6 months old is supposed to be on board there would be no need for neonatal supplies. When I went into labour and it couldn't be stopped at 22 weeks I was told that no attempt would be made to save my baby even if it was born alive since the chances of survival were zero. (He was born without a heartbeat and no resuscitation attempts were made; something that was horribly painful at the time, but I'm at peace with it now.) I was told that 24 weeks is the usual cutoff for when lifesaving attempts begin. So perhaps the mom was over 24 weeks and either didn't know or concealed these facts and the staff was prepared to let nature take its course then had to change tactics when it became apparent the the baby was more mature than they expected? Either way, after my experience I would never travel after my first trimester and would never advise anyone else to do it either. The risk just isn't worth it.

And I have to admit I cringe a bit when people exclaim about how lucky that baby was to survive. Anyone in the medical field or who has had contact with micro premies and know what it entails would not use the term "lucky". Yes, there are a few "miracle babies" who are healthy in the long term. There's a reason its such a news story when it happens because it's a one in a million chance.

 

[PrincessShmoo]

perhaps the mom was over 24 weeks and either didn't know or concealed these facts

If the baby was due Dec 19th and cruise started Aug 29th, she had completed 24 weeks of pregnancy (on the 29th). And was entering her 25th week. If she had a due date, she knew how far along she was.

The problem on those close calls is the interpretation of "24 weeks". The first week you are pregnant you are "in" your 1st week, and complete 1 week at the end of the week, thereby entering your second week. So at 24 weeks you are in your 25th week of pregnancy.

Most cruise lines have now tried to clarify it by saying "must not have entered your 24th week on embarkation or during the cruise". But a lot of women still say "I'm 24 weeks pregnant (in their 25th week) I can go on the cruise".