A Preemie With IUGR

Many people have asked how Noah's growth restriction is different than typical preemies.   
A preemie is a baby born preterm, or before 37 weeks gestation.   A typical preemie has no growth restriction and has gotten all the necessary blood, oxygen and nutrients needed so that they are on track with their gestational age.  They are simply born early.  

A growth restricted baby hasn't gotten the necessary blood, oxygen and nutrients needed, so they are in the less than 10th percentile as compared to all other babies at that gestational age.   Noah is Severe IUGR which means that he is in the less than 5th percentile, or that 95% of babies at this stage measure bigger than him.   

Our last growth scan, he was 1 pound, 6 ounces.   Normal growth at that age is around 3 pounds.  

So Noah will be both a premature baby and very, very small when he makes his grand entrance.  His growth restriction is what will keep us in the NICU until all of his systems are functioning properly.  

He will need to learn to breath on his own, to swallow & eat and to regulate his body temperature.  Some of the worries we have are bleeding in his brain, his vital organs functioning properly and jaundice (yellowing of the eyes and skin).  We also will need to rule out  low blood sugar (hypoglycemia), low blood calcium (hypocalcemia), thick blood (polycythemia), and swallowing of fluid from the amniotic sac at birth (meconium aspiration).  

When I talk about practice breaths, stretches, kicks, breathing in amniotic fluid, all of those things are awesome signs that he is strengthening those muscles and getting lots of practice in so that when he does arrive, he's got a good start. 

In my research, I've had to both understand preemie babies and growth restricted babies.   We've looked at best case and worst case scenarios.  Read about what to expect with the NICU and how to prepare for coming home.  

At this point, we have reached the point where we're armed with as much knowledge as possible and we simply wait. 

Today we have made it 28 weeks and 5 days.   I've been on hospital bedrest for 2 weeks today.   Two additional blessed weeks that Noah has stayed an inside baby and has continued to grow and thrive.   We hope and pray for many more!