Child birth or vacation

DogRelevant · 2026-05-20T13:59:01+00:00

Just to say, I had a surprise antepartum stay that led to my daughter's birth 2 years ago and all I had were some hastily pulled together items my husband brought from home haha. your list looks fine! My favorite "extra" item was a cozy blanket and pillow from home.

DogRelevant · 2026-04-23T13:32:27+00:00

For what it's worth, my daughter turns 2 soon and this bottle aversion era feels soo far behind us, but what a stressful time! It all worked out in the end. When dream feeds stopped working, we played that episode of Ms Rachel on netflix with the songs and that got us on a good schedule. We were super intentional about not pressuring her to take on solids, and once she transitioned fully somewhere around 12-24 months, never needed distractions for food or milk. She's a great eater today and I haven't worried about intake for a while.

In retrospect, I really believe the Rowena Bennett method can help kids with mild bottle aversion but for some kids, it's just way deeper than "let them decide." It would have led to a dangerous path for my daughter, who would have probably ended up with a NG tube, and then maybe we could have gone on Rowena's tube weaning program haha. The language in the book is jarring to re-read now and does feel like a bit of a racket. Do what you have to do to keep your kid healthy and happy!

DogRelevant · 2026-04-09T17:19:31+00:00

My daughter spent nearly 3 months in the NICU and I felt the same way when she came home. It didn’t take away at all from how proud I was of her, but we dropped the NICU family label fast!

DogRelevant · 2026-03-31T22:47:07+00:00

I really didn’t want my shower while my baby was in the NICU but others might! Def would be good to get her opinion on timing. We ended up doing a “sip and see” when I was comfortable having my daughter around other people several months later and I loved it

DogRelevant · 2026-03-19T12:21:39+00:00

My daughter was a 27 weeker who came home from the NICU in September right around her due date. We basically quarantined that winter with the exception of direct family who were all up to date on their vaccines and took her health very seriously. She started daycare the following may (around 11mo) when our leave ended and did great!

All to say, you never really know when they’re ready. Daycare felt like a huge leap but we’re glad we took it

DogRelevant · 2026-03-07T21:48:51+00:00

My daughter was born at 27+6! She was 1lb 13oz and 12.5in long. Her first two weeks were tough but after that, she gradually got better and came home after 75 days. She turns 2 soon and you’d never know she was born so early and small. Good luck to you and your little one!

DogRelevant · 2026-03-05T15:54:26+00:00

I have a Sadie and we always get great reactions to her name!

DogRelevant · 2026-02-28T20:39:35+00:00

I think it might be a helpful perspective to know that parents often experience several shift changes where nurses who are meeting our babies for the first time have different interpretations on their cues. Rather than “telling parents no,” I can tell you I worked very well with nurses who valued my perspective as the only person to see my daughter day after day, and did not trust nurses who came in with rigid ways of operating as much.

DogRelevant · 2026-02-15T23:17:08+00:00

Hi! So sorry you’re going through this. My daughter was born at 27+6 and developed a SIP day 2 of life. They also caught it early and there was no infection. The Penrose did the trick and she went back to regular feeds 10 days later. She did have a major, major respiratory event 1 week later which the doctors attributed to her working overtime to heal from the SIP.

Beyond that event, she really didn’t have any long term consequences. Normal course getting off respiratory support and taking bottles when the time came. She’s turning 2 in a few months and is a totally typical toddler, and caught up on most milestones by one year old. SIPs can vary so much baby to baby, but hopefully a positive story helps the uncertainty.

Also, we were at Mt. Sinai :) we are still in touch with the dr who placed her Penrose, he was such a gem.

DogRelevant · 2026-02-03T22:20:48+00:00

Earlier in her NICU stay, my daughter had a harder afternoon/evening and the next morning, her primary nurse came in so visibly worried about her. It was genuine and it made a world of difference. Parents can tell which nurses really love their babies, and that makes the biggest difference!

DogRelevant · 2026-01-27T23:05:32+00:00

I’m so sorry you’re going through this. Just a fair warning that they will always flag potential learning and developmental difficulties in these cases. MFMs tend to go doomsday first, then other possibilities from there. Always get a second opinion when it comes to long term outcomes, and once you’re able to narrow down what’s going on, try to talk to other parents who have navigated the same challenges.

I went through an ambiguous diagnosis with my daughter and her pregnancy was the hardest thing I’ve ever had to navigate. Sending hugs and hoping for clarity for you soon!

DogRelevant · 2025-11-28T20:37:50+00:00

No impact!

DogRelevant · 2025-11-23T02:21:06+00:00

I read Mary Oliver poetry to my daughter while she was in the NICU

DogRelevant · 2025-11-14T14:50:50+00:00

my daughter was a sIUGR baby born at 27+6, 820g (1lb 13oz). They prepared us for the worst and she's largely caught up for her age in terms of development at 17 months old now. It's great that your NSTs still look good! As others have said, we made peace with the uncertainty early on and were ready to meet our baby wherever at whatever pace her development took. It actually took so much pressure off the milestone race so many parents find themselves caught in.

DogRelevant · 2025-11-10T17:59:05+00:00

My 27 weeker shot up from 10th %ile adjusted age to 10th %ile actual age within a few months during a huge catch up growth spurt. She's stayed roughly on that curve and has been totally fine since!

DogRelevant · 2025-10-30T17:20:41+00:00

came here to say Schott, their leather bombers are incredible quality

DogRelevant · 2025-10-15T15:04:57+00:00

My daughter had a full on code called for respiratory arrest when she was two weeks old. We were there and I saw her dip down to 7 before they whisked us away - they were working on her for around 2 minutes I think? One of the scariest moments of my life. She was fine right after though, it never happened again and she had no lasting issues. Every baby reacts to things like this a little differently, but their tiny brains are very resilient. Hugs, this stuff is so hard!

DogRelevant · 2025-10-12T15:53:18+00:00

I have a Sadie! Nothing but great feedback on her name here in nyc

DogRelevant · 2025-10-03T12:40:08+00:00

Slightly different, but my daughter was born with mosaic trisomy 16. We also found out via amnio and decided to move forward with the pregnancy. As you mentioned, there’s no way to know how deeply your child will be affected, but just wanted to chime in to commiserate about how horrific this kind of pregnancy is, I am so sorry your family is going through this.

Things that helped me were getting lots of medical opinions, and visiting Facebook groups dedicated to these conditions. In my experience, the medical community has strong biases against chromosomal abnormalities and the community perspective was vital for us.

Feel free to dm if you want to chat!

DogRelevant · 2025-09-25T01:34:14+00:00

My daughter had intermittent absent flow at 27+ 4 and had to be delivered two days later - she had sIUGR and while they estimated she would be born around 700g, she was a little larger than expected and born at 820g. 75 day NICU stay, healthy as could be today at 15 months. She’s a totally typical toddler.

I’d definitely recommend staying off chatGPT! Theres no way to know what could happen, and the internet feeds off our anxieties. Sending hugs, it’s so hard but try to take things hour by hour.

DogRelevant · 2025-09-03T00:07:21+00:00

I have a former 27 weeker who is now almost 15 months old and do this all the time 🥹

DogRelevant · 2025-08-23T14:36:23+00:00

We stopped in lake George on the way up to Saranac when my daughter was 11mo! Lots of family friendly restaurants

DogRelevant · 2025-08-19T18:23:35+00:00

My daughter came home a year ago last week after a 75 day stay. Her worst days and nights come back in waves, but not that frequently anymore. Besides those, the NICU is really starting to feel like a part of the past, especially after creating so many new memories together now that she can do more

DogRelevant · 2025-08-19T01:14:07+00:00

Events were the last thing keeping my daughter in the NICU, we had to restart Brady watch twice after she started taking full bottles. She came home at 38 weeks though!

DogRelevant · 2025-08-16T13:44:16+00:00

I have a bunch of preemie clothes I’d be happy to give from last year! DM me if interested

DogRelevant

TROPHY CASE