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I had my two precious twin daughters on sept. 24 and they are still in the hospital. The reason they are still in the hospital is because they are having bradycardia's. I know this is normal because they were born at 31 weeks, but cannot stand to be without them it is tearing me apart.
Spells are very normal, some kids continue to have them until near their due date, mine stopped having them at 34 weeks, and we brought them home shortly after. Most hospitals have a rule - like 7 days with no spells. Some hospitals let you bring them home on monitors. How are they feeding? I had twin 30 weeker girls that are now 20 months old. They were in NICU for 5 weeks. you'll have them at home in no time! It's so much worse to bring them home when they're not quite ready, and being that they're only at 34 weeks gestation, they may not be ready. many babies stay unti their due date and past. I know it's hard, but soon enough the NICU will be a distant memory. Best wishes.
Thanks for the advice. They have been feeding very well , but today they both had a brady well nora had two. They have been doing so well and not having any. They have been taking 60cc's most of the time but at there 9pm feeding they just cut them back to see if that is what was causing them to brady the past couple of days. At the hospital they are at there is the 7 day rule. I know they need to be there if they are not ready it is just really hard. They are both over 5lbs. already.
Have they been tested for reflux? Sounds like that may be causing the spells. I wish you the best!
Our son had As and Bs a lot during the first 6 weeks (approximately) with the exception of a 1-2 week honeymoon period when he was first born. The bradys went away for the most part except for an occasional A or B when he'd get too comfortable during skin-to-skin BUT then they returned (I guess around 35-36 weeks approximately). The latter bradys were reflux related.
I believe that the initial round of As and Bs was due to an immature body not remembering to breath. The second round was reflux. It was like clockwork. Henry would eat. Then 15 minutes later, he'd have a brady.
The neonatalogist at the time said that reflux doesn't cause bradys. Frankly, I think that he was misinterpreting some study. I remember the nurses rolling their eyes behind his back. You could hear the reflux coming up the esophagus and then wham!...brady. When the reflux would hit the back of the throat, a vagle response was triggered.
Have you heard of the vagle response? Basically, there is a nerve at the back of the throat. When hit, the heart rate can plummet. To offer a crude example, have you heard of people having heart attacks when on the toilet? Basically, the straining can trigger a vagle response. Same thing with reflux.
The nurses said he'd grow out of it. I asked why. Henry's resident at the time (very smart gal) said that she'd never heard someone ask why or read exactly why. But she surmised that when babies grow, two things happen. One, they pick up fat which cushions the nerve so that it isn't so quick to trigger. Second, as they grow, the esophagus gets longer, which means that it is harder for the reflux to hit that area just right. Those were her thoughts anyway.
Reflux medications helped control the situation. I insisted that our son come home on a monitor b/c of the bradys. I believe that he only had one brady. And I caught it right away and got him out of it. That was enough to make the home monitor worth it for us.
Best wishes. Hope this helps.
Mine (born 26 wks, almost 40 now) had pretty much stopped having them when they started having feeding related bradies. I have to be very careful when they bottle feed or they will brady. My little girl will brady too if she needs to burp. Other than feed-related bradies, they are doing great now.
Re: happymama
My son was born at 25 weeks, 1 day. He just started bottle feeding but had been feeding through a tube since he was a week old. How did your Dr distinguish between food related bradies and regular bradies?
My daughter had bradys for 7 weeks, and was released at 8 weeks. Our hospital had the "no bradys for 7 days rule" before they were allowed to leave. She had them while learning to bottle feed, but after a week or so of feeding without her tube, she got the hang of everything. I am pretty sure she had one or two once we got her home (that last week in the NICU, I watched her instead of relying on the monitors to tell me when she was having a brady) but we got her out of it and easily.
I know you miss them like crazy, and I hope they get to leave soon.
Amanda was a 24 weeker, and even after going home, she still had spells especially during feedings. We went home on an apnea monitor, so we had warning most of the time when these things happened. After being in the hospital for so long though, we had learned to watch her and not the monitor, and could tell when one was coming on. Bradys will go away after time. My daughter is 11 months old now, and hasn't had any spells for at least 6 months.
My son was born at 33 weeks and had A TON of B's 18-20 in a day. He has MAJOR reflux which was causing some of them. Once he was on the right meds they went to like 2 a day. We also came home on a Apnea monitor. He did great, he is 4 months now and hasn't had a the monitor in a month or so. We kept just for me, in the end. He didn't need it anymore.
I understand wanting them home, it's the only thing that was keeping my son in the NICU.
My son had bradycardia and was on caffine for 4 months. he was born at 34 weeks and is a healthy four year old today. btw, he has acid reflux
Thanks everyone for the encouragment and advice. Today was a good day and no brady's so far. Oh did i mention the hospital they are at is an hour away from where i live so i have to drive that long drive to see my precious angels:( I remember someone asking about when they have bradys. Some in there sleep like real early in the morning and then some during a feeding. I will definitly come home with monitors because I will not be able to sleep thinking that something could happen while i am asleep and never know it.
You know, once we were given the green light to bring them home, we weren't even offered monitors, b/c they hadn't had a spell in 7 days. I don't know if you can request them? If insurance will cover them, if the hospital doesn't deem them necessary? Something to ask. We never had one issue once our girls came home, if that makes you feel any better. I was nervous that first week, but after that, they did so well, I just assumed the spells were gone for good, and they were! keep us updated and good luck!
Hi there Mommy,
If your babies are doing well, with no further health problems and are feeding well, and were born at 31 weeks, then they should be coming home soon. The approximate time for a 31 week baby to come home is around a month to a month in a half. (this is only if your baby has had no other issues besides brady's) and of course if they are feeding well. (i heard this from a NICU nurse when my baby was there)...Keep in mind that for twins, one will always be a little smaller then the other, and one will have more brady's then the other. Your babies sound like they should be coming home soon. One important thing i want to mention is that, my daughter was ready to come home, but she would stilll have bradys (especially after a feeding). doctors found out it was due to Reflux. After a feeding she was put down in her open cribb and the milk would come back up, which caused brady's. After this the Doctor ordered for her open crib to be elevated. When i was there to feed her (which was most of the time) I would hold her until her next feeding (which was 3 hours) so that way the milk would stay down. Poor baby, i felt so bad when i would leave home b/c i knew that the nurses would not hold her enough time, but the elevated cribb did help.
As for the apnea monitor, i don't know if you can just request it. At my hospital they would only give it to the baby if the Neonatologist felt it was necessary or the baby had many complications in the NICU. Also, it has to be approved throuhg your insurance, which most insurance will approve it. but this is only at the hospital she was at.
It sounds like you will do OK, always keep your baby on his back to sleep, and don't wrap him with too many blankets. (depends if it is winter where you are at).. i read a book that keeping the baby to warm, i mean to warm that it could may be a cause for SIDS. When my baby came home =, in the beginning of winter, i dressed with a onesie, a button long sleeve sleeping outfit with booties, a sleep sack, and a hat, and one blanket that didn't go above her chest.
Good luck , and enjoy your little angels!!! THEY GROW SO FAST
Re: Brielle-08 "Keep in mind that for twins, one will always be a little smaller then the other, and one will have more brady's then the other." This is not a rule of thumb. It is true sometimes one twin lags, but mine have gone back in forth, one was an ounce or two smaller, than got bigger than the other, etc. Each set of twins is totally different. And both of my girls had the same amount of spells. Once again, there are no rules for twins, just as each baby is totally different.
And no blankets in the crib until they are older, unless it is for swaddling. A sleep sack or swaddling blanket is fine. Just wanted to clarify.
My son was a 24-weeker, and had bradys at the time he was discharged at just under 40 weeks. We think they were, at least by that point, related to reflux. The ped put him on prevacid, which really helped the pain of the reflux and we think reduced the brady activity. He came home on an apnea monitor, which was WONDERFUL to have, and had bradys on and off for another six weeks or so. But, as someone else said, we knew his patterns by then, and the typical timing of the bradys, and he came out of them pretty quickly (otherwise they'd never have discharged us).
Hope that helps!
love2girls:
If they don't come home with monitors and you are really really nervous, I would suggest getting Angelcare monitors. I checked on my daughter constantly after she got home, but when we got the Angelcare monitor I was able to relax a little.
My little one, after a wonderful time of growth and feeding, started having A & B spells alot. He is 31 weeks now. This started about 3 days ago with only a few and now he is doing it a lot. He is not bringing himself out of all of them and needing help quite a bit as well. I am so concerned and scared. They stopped feeding last night and will run blood test to see what's wrong. He was put on IMP CPAP and was doing well. They began the weening process and he tolerated it until they got down to about 34%. Now they have him back up to 40% but he is still having spells. Anyone familiar? When I say he is having a lot of spells, I was there last night and he had about 5 in an hours time.
I want to clarify regarding Brielle-08 comment "The approximate time for a 31 week baby to come home is around a month to a month in a half." My son was a 31 wker, and was not developmentally ready to come home after a month to a month in a half, other issues aside. It would also be irresponsible for a dr to state such, as every baby is different. There are babies that go home before their due dates and babies that go home after their due date, but since all babies are different it cannot be averaged or estimated when a preemie will go home.
My son experienced B's more than A's. Early on, it was likely due to his premature system, but then as others said, reflux was also the culprit. Katek provided some excellent info on reflux and the vagle response, which is what they believed my son was experiencing. Prilosec helped control his reflux and I don't remember Henry having B's beyond 37 wks. Due to other complications that developed later, Henry did not go home until 44wks. He did have an apnea monitor, but only b/c he was sent home w/ an NG tube.
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