.. is that they are fragile. They are fragile while they are trying to survive in the NICU but, and this is something many parents ignore at the time, is they remain fragile even when they leave the NICU behind, possibly for several years. In fact, even if they do survive their time in the NICU, their morbidity rate is very high for the first years of their lives...
While pregnant with the boys all I cared about was delivering them alive... I was schooled that way, I was led to believe that it was "just" a difficult high risk pregnancy and that since I wouldn't be pregnant forever, if we could "just" get to a certain gestational age, things would be fine and we would live happily ever after.
At five years 4 months of age, my preemie is now a "former" preemie, an IUGR survivor and even though for the most part we live happily, it is not an easy road.
Today he is having two teeth pulled due to something related to his prematurity... enamel dysplasia. Five years after he was born, his preemie status is still giving him trouble. He does not like it, is not looking forward to it, and my heart bleeds for him. He is already different looking with his IUGR related undervelopment, his preemie related bad eyesight and glasses and his brain damage related CP gait.. now he will be the only kid in his class with two front teeth (upper) missing :(
Oh how wonderful... it's not the teeth per se, although since we are looking to at least anothe year before his new ones grow in, it's the issues this will cause. Kids are not supposed to be without teeth for too long and he will be :( I don't know how this will affect his speech, he is already in speech therapy ... or his eating, which is already a huge daily struggle...
Wish us luck please... Even grown preemies are different in a way a parent of a full term baby can't understand :( I do not wish preemiehood to anyone.
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3 comments:
I think I know how it feels!!!
It's difficult with twins anyway.
Preemies makes it harder.
However sooner or later they'll get to understand, gain selfconfidence and maybe then they'll become stronger then others.
Preemies are the best survivors my doctor used to say to me!
I tend to believe that he is right!!
Hugs
Morena
Tell me about it....I frequently wake up in the middle of the night to give my former preemie a breathing treatment because she has difficulty breathing and her o2 saturation is too low. I hope that she will eventually grow out of it, that her lungs will get stronger. Even after six years those 6 weeks she missed in the womb are having a lasting effect.
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