Since when is deliving at 36 wks a 'preemie'???

[illini]

Humm, are we the same person??? My son was born at 36 weeks and spent 12 days in the NICU and weighed 6 lbs 1 oz. They had to go to the PICU to get diapers and a gown.

The nurses were all laughing about the 6lb 1 oz preemie--like he was HUGE or something!??

 

[aprilgail2]

My daughter was a preemie born at 36 weeks and went straight to NICU.

 

[poohandwendy]

I had a medically necessary tubal ligation after my 3 pregnancy. My OB felt that for me to have further children with my diabetes was too much of a risk and that I would not survice another pregnancy. My insurance would only pay for it if it was medically necessary. They actually wanted to abort my youngest daughter but my husband and I refused to allow it. We do not believe in abortion.

LOL, I did think of situations like that after I posted...still, it is not common. And even still, if they want to be technical, there are other less costly/invasive BC methods it's surprising they wouldn't point that out.

Sounds like a few of you have really horrible insurance coverage, to be honest. Insurance companies actually benefit from elective sterilization procedures. Surprizing that a few will not cover them

 

[TheOtherVillainess]

Wow. I'm amazed at the number of people who've gone past 40 wks. My OB/GYN told me that if I didn't go into labor all on my own, I would be induced within a week after my due date. I can't remember if she had a reason why she did it that way or not. I was dead set on doing it myself, but she was kinda..I dunno if forceful is the right word...she was very..insistent on doing an inducement. I don't know if she does that with all her patients or if it was just with me.

As it turned out though, DS turned head downwards right on schedule around 38 wks, but refused to budge an inch! I wasn't even having Braxton-Hicks. Nothing going on downstairs at all. We scheduled his induction for April 5, but shortly after we confirmed this with the hospital, they called us back. A spot had opened up for April 1 (my due date)..would I like to do it then? Sure why not? Another one of God's little jokes.

My MIL was..well..not furious but definately upset about the date of induction. She is afraid that DS will get teased at school because of his birthday. I don't worry about it. DH's family has a thing about holiday birthdays. DMIL was born on Oct 30 and DH was born on Nov 27, which is on Thanksgiving Day depending on the year.

TOV

 

[SandiH]

The nurses were all laughing about the 6lb 1 oz preemie--like he was HUGE or something!??

Same here - my DS was the big guy in the NICU - they just couldn't believe how big he was - yet he was very, very sick for about 4 days. Then it was just monitor, learn to eat and stay warm!

 

[RachelEllen]

Wow, my eyes are really being opened here! I'm an "old time" mother-had my first son in 1978, at 31 weeks, 3lbs2oz. A few months later, our pediatrician got pregnant and she said that if she made it to 35 weeks, she could relax since that was kind of a "milestone" gestational age. The next year I got pregnant again, and my then high-risk OB led me to believe that if I made it to 35-36 weeks (DS was born full term), I could probably relax about so many of the prematurity issues. Lots of changes over the years!

The main thing that has changed is our standards about what we can do. Neonatology, as a speciality, didn't exist until 1975. In 1978, we didn't even know what caused respiratory distress syndrome in premature infants. Now we can effectively treat it and sometimes prevent it.

I work with doctors who treated infants in the 70's, and a much higher level of infant mortality was accepted as "just the way things were." Now that we can do so much, we expect much more.

So the relaxing you could do in 1978 when you reached 35 weeks was about the same as the relaxing you can do now when you reach 32 weeks. You've moved from the stage where you have a good possibility of delivering a critically ill infant who may not even live to the stage where 95% of the time we can effectively treat the infant.

Nowadays, getting to 35 weeks means that an otherwise healthy infant has an essentially 100% chance of surviving. So, even though the mortality rate at 37 weeks may only be tenths of a percentage points greater than 38 weeks, it's no longer considered acceptable to ignore that risk.

 

[aprilgail2]

We scheduled his induction for April 5, but shortly after we confirmed this with the hospital, they called us back. A spot had opened up for April 1 (my due date)..would I like to do it then? Sure why not? Another one of God's little jokes.


TOV

I was born on April 2nd and I STILL get teased about it 40+ years later..."hey you know you missed your real birthday a day" "To bad you weren't born on April Fools day then you could have been a real fool"....Uggg....

 

[TheOtherVillainess]

Well, we consider his birthday to be another of God's little jokes.

Just like we say that his cousin IttyBitty (who was born prematurely)was so excited after finding out he was going to be adopted by DSIL and her DH that he couldn't wait full-term to get here. He arrived exactly 2 wks after DS.

TOV

 

[SleepyMom]

My son was born at 34 weeks. He spent 10 days in NICU even though he weighed 6lbs 1 oz.

Our DD12 was very close to that, she was born at 34 weeks 1 day and weighed 6 lbs 7 oz. She spent 18 days in the NICU. It was kind of weird seeing how big she was next to the other preemies, but she really was sick and needed to be there. Her lungs were underdeveloped and she had one collapse, she had a chest tube for 6 days.

I went into the hospital at 28 weeks and they were able to hold her off until 34. I was so thankful for every day I was able to be there because I knew each one meant so much in her development. They told me to aim for 32 weeks, but I set my sights on 34 and made it one day past. I often wondered what would have happened if I had gone for 36 in my mind.

 

[snowy76]

Just wanted to say how reassuring it feels to know so many other DIS-ers have gone through what we have. DS was born on 3/14/06 at 30 weeks 4 days (3 lb 13 oz and 16 inches). I had none of the warning signs during my pregnancy, just got bad "gas" after dinner on 3/11 which turned out to be contractions. Thankfully OB was able to delay my contractions long enough to get steroid shots for the baby's lungs to mature. We were very lucky: Nikolas spent one night on CPAP, no other breathing issues beyond the occasional apnea, which he grew out of.

Nikolas spent two weeks under bili lights, then it was just a matter of his digestive system maturing and teaching him to breastfeed. He spent 29 days in NICU total and came home April 12, at less than 35 weeks. He's gained an ounce per day since then and has had no complications other than a blocked tear duct, which is just another sign to me of how perfectly average he is!But as happy as I am, I can't help but think of the moms I got to know at the hospital who were there before us and are still there. Every NICU baby is different, and it doesn't matter how old or how big the baby is, no mom (or dad!) wants to visit her baby there.

 

[Nancy]

I have never heard of an insurance company not covering sterilization because of age, that almost seems discriminatory. Unless the patient was a minor or something. I have heard of doctors not wanting to do it on very young women, but never after 30.

I had my tubes tied when I was 27, no problems with the doctor doing it and no problems with my insurance company. I imagine if that was a common problem, my doctor would have told me to check with my insurance company beforehand, to make sure. They never questioned it at all.

The only thing about getting it done young is that the doctor may want to counsel you multiple times before doing it to make sure it is not a rash decision. (mine did) To be honest, I think that is an ethical way to handle it no matter the age. They should make sure the patient knows what she is doing and is absolutely sure that her mind is made up.

You (general you) really should go into it with the idea that it is permanent, because even with the improved rates of reversal...there is no guarantee. I think that is what doctors want the patients to realize.

Me either, I was 35 but I didn't even think to inquire if insurance covered it. I actually looked in to having that done after DD#2 and the doctor refused to do it them because I said I was 99.9 % sure I was done having babies. Glad I waited cause we had #3 and she is such a trip!

 

[golfgal]

I am praying that insurance will cover sterilization (for me, because I don't want to put DH through that) at such a young age.



TOV

This is really funny. The sterilization procedure for a woman is much more invasive and requires a much longer recovery time then it does for a man. For a vasectomy the actual procedure takes about 10 minutes, they are a little sore for a day, maybe, and all is well. For a woman it can be major surgery, 6 week recovery time. It is also WAY less expensive for your DH ($400 or so for him $3000+ for you) then you if insurance doesn't cover it. There is a big difference between a 21 year old requesting this and a 28 year old with a child. I have never heard of someone being denied coverage for sterilization.

 

[mickeyboat]

I am the mother of a 6 year old who was delivered at 34 weeks, 4 lbs, 12 oz. She had bradycardia, jaundice, apnea and trouble eating. She stayed in the ICN for 2 weeks. And she was one of the healthier babies in there.

My water broke for no discernible reason at 31 weeks (the day of my baby shower), and I was having contractions. The labor stopped with fluids and rest, and they opted to keep me in the hospital under observation, and give me steriod shots to help her lungs mature.

At 33 6/7 weeks an intern or resident (I can't remember which) came in and said they were going to do am amnio to see if her lungs were mature enough to deliver. I said, that's a great idea, but can't we just collect some of the fluid leaking out of me right at this moment for you to test? Hello!

BTW - we did not know Hannah's gender, but were praying for a girl, since we had been told that premie girls tend to do better than boys. We were never so happy to hear a baby cry as we were that night.

Denae

 

[KimR]

Yeah, folks get it in their head that pregancy is suppose to be 9 months but it's really 10.

No, this is not true. A pregnancy typically lasts 40 weeks which equates to just a little over 9 months (there are more than 4 weeks in a month). Taking into consideration that the beginning of pregnancy is dated from LMP and not conception, the actual pregnancy usually doesn't even last the full 9 months. All 3 of my babies were born (full-term, 40 weeks gestation) about 1 week shy of 9 months dated from conception.

 

[TheOtherVillainess]

Kim--LOL. We had to wait for the first sonogram to know exactly how far along I was. We knew when I found out, it was at least 2 mos, possibly three but with my screwy cycle..it was hard to tell because I couldn't remember when my LMP was!

TOV

 

[gris gris]

I'm dying here at 36w2d - c/section is scheduled for 5/31 which will put me at 39w4d. I've been begging my doctor to change the date but she won't and I think I understand why after reading this thread. I didn't realize there was such a difference between 37 weeks & 40 weeks.

DD was born via emergency c/s at 42 weeks. I never went into labor even after being induced. This time around I'm praying I go into labor on my own but the OB doesn't think I will.

 

[Galahad]

No, this is not true. A pregnancy typically lasts 40 weeks which equates to just a little over 9 months (there are more than 4 weeks in a month). Taking into consideration that the beginning of pregnancy is dated from LMP and not conception, the actual pregnancy usually doesn't even last the full 9 months. All 3 of my babies were born (full-term, 40 weeks gestation) about 1 week shy of 9 months dated from conception.

Gee, I'll have to tell DW she has been telling hundreds of patients the wrong thing for 20 years. She'll be possitively mortified.

 

[golfgal]

Gee, I'll have to tell DW she has been telling hundreds of patients the wrong thing for 20 years. She'll be possitively mortified.

Count it out on a calendar--you will see how it works. Again, they figure your due date based on the first day of your last period so there are about 14 days there that you aren't pregnant but are still counted in that time. Ask your wife, she will tell you the same thing.

 

[KimR]

Gee, I'll have to tell DW she has been telling hundreds of patients the wrong thing for 20 years.

I assume your wife is a doctor or midwife and you are being sarcastic, but I am truly curious as to what her response would be to my post. I have heard more than a few people claim that a pregnancy is actually 10 months but that makes no sense to me. 10 months is 43 weeks, not 40.

 

[Galahad]

I assume your wife is a doctor or midwife and you are being sarcastic, but I am truly curious as to what her response would be to my post. I have heard more than a few people claim that a pregnancy is actually 10 months but that makes no sense to me. 10 months is 43 weeks, not 40.

My wife is a high risk OB and delivers more babies that any other physician in our state. She tells her patients (and me) that pregnancy should be considered closer to 10 months than to 9 month. Pregnancy is measured in weeks, not month, so using months is an approximation anyway. Many women are surprised that their pregnancies last as long as they do because they get the "9 month"' thing in their head. She tells them that it's really longer than that while going over the expected growth prospects so they will calm down after they "figure" they've gone past 9 months. Generally, if someone is term and not going into labor on their own, if all else is well they are not going to induce or force a c-section until 42 weeks.