STOP B*TCHING!

Yay! This is my first time! I just want to start by saying this is pretty cool, and hopefully you like what I have to say. We haven't discussed anything on pre-term babies on here...at all. I am a mother of two "late pre-term" babies. I think we are going to dive into what I want in a pregnancy and how jealous I am of these women who take their full term infants for granted. DO YOU KNOW HOW MANY OF US HAVE WISHED FOR A BIRTH OF A BABY WHO ISN'T PRETERM?!?!

Jaundiced Baby E in December, 2010

Jaundiced Baby M in December, 2008

I am so sick and tired of hearing women who are only *36* weeks along in their pregnancy. STOP BITCHING. Do you know what its like for a baby to be born at 36 weeks? Even 37 weeks is not promising your baby is full term; it is simply an estimated safe, healthy arrival period. We all know due dates can be off, and care providers could possibly fill your head with crap about your baby being 8lbs three to four weeks before its due date. Please take a minute to educate yourself with info from a momma who had a late pre-term infant, twice.

Lets start with the size of baby, we will call her baby P. Baby P could be 4lbs or could be 7lbs within 34-36/6 weeks, give or take a pound here or there. (and this comes from a plethora of sites similar to babycenter and etc). My 36 weeker was 6lbs 5oz and 19inches long, and my 35 weeker was 7lbs 4 oz and 19 inches long. Each baby is different, and each pregnancy is different. In my personal experience the ultrasounds were loads of crap on how big my children were. I was told baby M was going to be close to 8lbs and that baby E would be barely 4lbs, and these were all within days of labor, or the day of. The size of these babies can and will fool you, and care providers until your due date was confirmed and baby is properly assessed.

Baby E on her birthday!

Do you know when a baby develops their sucking reflex? Do you know how important it is that a baby has one?
Who wants their baby to stay in the hospital possibly the NICU because they don't have a sucking reflex, or they can't manage a good suck swallow pattern? Have you seen a child aspirate their milk because they didn't have the brain capacity to manage their suck swallow pattern? Did you take the time to master finger feedings, heck do you even know what finger feeding is? Have your heart set on breastfeeding as soon as your baby is delivered?
The sucking reflex is typically fully developed around 36 weeks gestation, that could mean your 36week and 6 day baby doesn't have one, or your 35 week and 6 day baby has one. If your baby is born without one you will have to take extra measures to ensure your baby receives adequate nutrition. Baby M was finger fed because she was born lacking the ability to nurse or bottle feed. We used a tiny tube and placed it between the roof of her mouth and our finger. Expressed breast milk was placed into the tube via syringe. Baby E was nursing the second I was able to hold her. Each of my children were only allowed to eat every 3 hours, not on cue, not on demand, or not when I felt was ready. Miserable experience for all of us, and the poor Russian corpsman who thought my baby should eat on cue.

Courtesy of March of Dimes
A baby's brain still has a lot of growing to do between 35 and 39 weeks in the womb.

http://www.npr.org/2011/07/18/138473097/doctors-to-pregnant-women-wait-at-least-39-weeks
The above website has a great article about the weight of a 35 week baby and a 39-40 week baby. Your baby's brain has 2/3 the capacity of a full term baby. Do you know what they are lacking? I can't say that I know exactly what they are lacking, but you get the picture right? When born at 36 weeks their coordination can be off, by a lot. They are missing immune system responses, coordination (not that infants are very well coordinated), and physiological responses.

Baby M as an ittybitty.

I don't want to forget about their lungs! Oh sheesh, only one of the biggestmajorbodypartsanyhumanneeds. That's right, your baby could suffer from apnea, erratic breathing, dip in oxygen levels, experience cyanosis, or just plain old can't breath on its own! Oh all of those wires and crap my sweet little baby had coming out of her clothes and blankets. She just seemed so lonely when I would see her in that hard plastic tub they used as a bassinet. I went in every 2 hours around the clock, and sometimes more just to hold my baby.

This is just a slight overview of the major problems late pre-term infants have. Now let me just ask you, what do you see wrong with this? Will you think twice about trying to induce labor before its time? Having dealt with a "buttload" of problems, to say the least, I couldn't imagine any mother wanting their baby to go through this. I am still cringing with anger because of these moms! Stop being selfish and let your baby finish developing. Why would you put your precious bundle of joy at risk? Please take a minute to look at this website http://www.pediatricsdigest.mobi/content/120/6/1390.full it is full of great information for those of you who are looking to educate yourselves!

-Amanda

*I know some families have it worse, yes I really do know this. In no way am I complaining about the well-being of my children, or bitching that I was able to hold them in until 35 weeks, because I know someone, somewhere has i t worse.*