so if my baby has to go to nicu.....

because i have gestational diabetes and i hear they will want to check his blood sugars alot.....
will i still be able to hold him/nurse him for a while first?

when i watch tv shows of babies going to nicu its for size or breathing issues and usually they are wisked away pretty quick.

does anyone know how it works in my case?

tia!

Re: so if my baby has to go to nicu.....

I;m pretty sure they would let you see the baby for a second, but i THINK they would take the baby down to the NICU right away. I believe they dont want the babies going from the OR or the delivery room to another room and then into the NICU with the slightest possibility to carry something. I know once a baby leaves the NICU, they can not go back in. I could be wrong though!

Re: so if my baby has to go to nicu.....

so , how would the baby be able to be breastfed if they cant leave the nicu?

Re: so if my baby has to go to nicu.....

Posted by prunepie

so , how would the baby be able to be breastfed if they cant leave the nicu?

Re: so if my baby has to go to nicu.....

They checked my baby right there in front of me in the nicu. You can feed them right there.

Re: so if my baby has to go to nicu.....

I had GD and high blood pressure and a whole slew of other issues (resulting in an unplanned c/s 3 weeks early) and my baby did not need to go to the NICU. They actually checked his blood sugars right there in recovery and gave him to me to breastfeed. they said the more I breastfed, the better his numbers. He did fine! They checked him when they needed to, but he never had to go to NICU just because I had GD.

Re: so if my baby has to go to nicu.....

Emily had to go to the NICU when she was born (and I did have GD) but it didn't have anything to do with blood sugar issues. She had rapid breathing when she was born. They said it could have been bc I had a c-section...when you push a baby out all of the amniotic fluid in their lungs gets squeezed out of them, but...it also just could have been how she was. Plenty of c-section babies do NOT have rapid breathing.

Anyway...

I didn't like how it was done in my case. I didn't end up seeing or holding her until the next day. She was born at 3:03pm and after recovery they sent me to my room and I didn't sleep that night becuase I was so worried about her, DH was at home so noone could keep checking on her for me, and they wouldn't let me out of my bed to go to the NICU. The next morning they wanted me to take it slow and I insisted on getting up and going down there right away.

I tried to nurse her the next morning and she never latched properly. She already had bottles and a pacifier. I always had it in my head that since she had them first, she prefered them...it's so much easier to drink a bottle then to nurse, nursing is hard work for them...but plenty of people have had good latches after the fact too.

Anyway I am being adimant about it this time and speaking up. This is my 2nd child and I know more....I am insisting that we get to see eachother right away, and I'm telling everyone going into the OR that I plan on breastfeeding her ASAP and that she is to be breastfed ONLY ... hopefully it will go better this time!

Re: so if my baby has to go to nicu.....

Posted by prunepie

so , how would the baby be able to be breastfed if they cant leave the nicu?

Re: so if my baby has to go to nicu.....

Since I gave birth to a gigantic baby, they just assumed they needed to treat him like a GD baby. (Although I didn't have GD) They took him to the NICU for testing and he wasn't going to be admitted. But about 5 hours after birth he started showing signs of a few breathing problems, so they admitted him to the NICU. Once admitted, they have to stay in the NICU 48 hours, even if everything clears up in a few hours. Just policy. I breastfed him the entire time. It helped me recover quickly because I had to keep getting myself up to go to the NICU.

Re: so if my baby has to go to nicu.....

What hospital are you delivering at? I had DS at Winthrop last year and had GD. They took him straight to NICU. Apparently it is now their policy, stay in NICU for 24 hours if mom has GD. Didn't have to do that with DD. I was able to go to NICU for all feedings. They brought me whenever I wanted to go.

Re: so if my baby has to go to nicu.....

My experience with my 2nd at NS manhasset was this: I did not have GD however my baby was 9lb 9.5oz. I was able to nurse her after birth. The nurse asked me if she happens to have low sugar do I want them to give formula or do I want to nurse-i said they can give formula-not thinking this was going to happen. They then sent her to the nursery where they checked her sugar and it was low-off to NICU. They gave her formula that day and night-and even with that she was having some low readings-i forget what the protocol to be released from NICU was but it was something like she needed 3 normal readings after feeding...then 3 normal readings before feedings.

I suppose if i said i wanted to nurse they would have brought me there-not sure how easy that would be if you have a c-section, i had a v-birth with no tearing or complications and they told me to wait till around 8pm (I had her at noon)to have them get a wheelchair for me to go there-they wouldn't let me walk(my room was on a different floor)...that took a really long time...and then when i wanted to go back to my room the girl that took me there was gone-luckily my IL's happened to come and they wheeled me up. Not sure if the accomodations are better at other hospitals in that regard. Also I had supply issues with my first DD so in the end i am glad i went the formula route until her sugar stabilized and she was with me the next day and i was able to BF then.

ETA: BF didn't work out 100% for me, but i don't think missing those feedings was the problem.

Message edited 3/16/2012 2:37:43 PM.

Re: so if my baby has to go to nicu.....

thanks for your feedback. i am delivering at good samaratin in east islip.

do you think i can call the hospital to find out their policy or should i just ask my ob?

Re: so if my baby has to go to nicu.....

Re: so if my baby has to go to nicu.....

I had GD and my Babies didn't go to the NICU. They evaluated them first and made sure that they didn't need to go to the NICU, but for blood sugar levels alone they didn't send them there.

As fr BFing and the NICU. once your baby is in the NICU, they are there till released, so you would have to go down to the NICU and feed there.

With my middle child her sugar numbers were very low and I was BFing her. We kept on checking her numbers and they weren't changing. After speaking with the nurses an my ped I decided to also supplement with formula to get her numbers back to where they should be and it worked like a charm and she had no more sugar issues.

Re: so if my baby has to go to nicu.....

If your baby goes to the NICU, then you just have to go to the NICU to BF the baby. The baby can't come to you.