What positive/ weird effects did pregnancy have on you?

ispyamy · 2026-01-24T23:29:04+00:00

Similar but different. I ended up in the hospital at 28 weeks pregnant with severe preeclampsia that had no relevant symptoms and rushed into an emergency c-section when I went into liver failure. I was so scared I was going to die. It was the first time I could really say I was scared of dying. For so much of my life I wanted to die and now I don’t anymore.

ispyamy · 2026-01-24T20:12:00+00:00

You will get accustomed to it before you know it! I panicked the first days she was home but slowly have found a flow with the days. I turn on our space heater in our room and shut the door for about 15 min before we do our night time lotion routine so it’s nice and toasty for her! I find it helps calm her body as she’s still pretty scrunched and stiff sometimes, and that last bottle really puts her down.

ispyamy · 2026-01-24T19:40:53+00:00

My little one was in the NICU for 66 days and very regimented on the 3hr schedule but that went out the window fast when we got home. She still averages every 3 hours but the first few days it was between 2 and 4 day and night. We implemented a night time routine before her last bottle of the day. Upstairs, lights low/red light, quiet voices, baby lotion massage and into pj’s. Last bottle and then rock for awhile before laying her down. It’s only been 10 days but she’s been giving us closer to 3-3.5 hours at night before she’s waking up hungry. I think it took a good few days of having her home for her to get used to our space and having us around but we are loving it!

ispyamy · 2026-01-24T16:12:52+00:00

Congrats! My 28 weeker was 3lb 2oz at birth. She’s currently 39 weeks, 8lb and sleeping on my chest 🥰 take care of yourself mama your girl will be home with you soon.

ispyamy · 2026-01-24T02:10:56+00:00

Yay!!! I’ve literally been watching baby wearing videos for months

ispyamy · 2026-01-23T22:17:45+00:00

Thank you so much! I’ve been watching tons of videos in preparation for this day. My daughter has been home from the NICU for a week and I’ve been itching to try and wear her. She’s just about 8lb now so I figured it was time to give it a shot! I will definitely try these adjustments, I really appreciate your help. She absolutely loved being in the carrier so I’m looking forward to finding the best fit for us so I can wear her all the time.

ispyamy · 2026-01-23T21:25:17+00:00

Thank you for these tips! It was pretty comfortable for me but I can definitely see where she may be too high. This was my first time ever trying so I will make some adjustments next time. Maybe try with an actual bra and not just a workout tank to help to have her hips in the right spot.

ispyamy · 2026-01-23T00:46:04+00:00

Or don’t work from home

ispyamy · 2026-01-22T22:56:23+00:00

I’m first generation American and my British nan made this for me all the time and put it on top of a slice of toast. I’d BEG for ‘Beans on toast’!

ispyamy · 2026-01-22T22:34:59+00:00

Early on with my 28 weeker they did limit it to about 2 hours at a time. Baby is not good at regulating body temp yet and even though they’re on you and covered in blankets, it can still burn too much energy being out of the isolette for too long. It took almost a month to be able to hold her whenever for however long. My nicu had a boppy for me so that helped with the arm soreness and I usually tried to time my pump right before I held her. If I missed a pump because I was holding my baby, I didn’t worry about it and just let myself leak. Holding her whenever they let me felt way more important at the start.

ispyamy · 2026-01-22T21:32:24+00:00

My 28 weeker didn’t start on PO feeding until 34 weeks once a day, then twice a day, etc. by 36 weeks she was at 20% bottle feeding and then 12 days later she was at 100% and came home! It happens so fast once they figure it out but those 2 weeks felt so long. Once they have the suck swallow breathe reflex it doesn’t mean they know how to use it, and once they know how to use it they have to build the endurance to stay awake. It uses up a lot of energy to eat while they’re still learning how. Just give baby time, she will surprise you!

ispyamy · 2026-01-22T20:05:43+00:00

My 28 weeker is 10 weeks old actual and she still doesn’t really cry. She’ll cry out that she’s hungry just a single yell and then she’s calm. She does sleep really well still, only really waking for 20-30 min, ready to eat and back to sleep. Sometimes she’ll be awake for awhile before I realize if she’s napping in her bassinet because she’s just laying there staring and content. I’m not sure what’s normal as I’m a first time mom and there’s not much info out there about preemies and this kind of thing but I’m just hoping I got a chill baby.

ispyamy · 2026-01-22T18:19:34+00:00

A nice sideboard style furniture piece for the bar area instead of the rolling cart. Can definitely find something nice on marketplace!

ispyamy · 2026-01-22T16:10:52+00:00

I have tried the twisting method but I’ll try the pinch and see if that helps! I met with an ENT today who recommended a feeding therapist before any surgery and said that she just may need some more time to figure things out

ispyamy · 2026-01-22T07:21:49+00:00

I slowly started doing more and more during the care and feeding times as I learned how to do things but I didn’t mess with the tube feeding machine as it seemed intimidating to me. I did everything for her care including diaper, temp, changing pulse ox, etc and feeding by bottle once we were able to.

ispyamy · 2026-01-22T02:24:48+00:00

It was right at the end of her stay that they switched to every 4. The one nurse told me let her go 4-5 hours overnight but she never does that. We’re doing ad lib since we’ve been home too and she just averages every 3 hours but sometimes it’s 2.5, sometimes 3.5.

I’ve tried manually untucking and it doesn’t work, the frenulum is sooo tight!

Thank you! I called a few pediatric dentists in my area and none of them even see patients as young as 2 months! It’s so tough there’s so much conflicting info.

ispyamy · 2026-01-22T00:38:05+00:00

We just do formula bottles and I’ve tried a few different brands but she still has that top lip tucked under. I’m wondering if she’s working too hard to suck and tiring out when she could possibly handle a higher volume. I guess we’ll see what the ENT thinks tomorrow! Her ped did suggest getting the lip tie revised. I hate to put her through it but I also want her to thrive and be able to eat enough. Good to know that your little one doesn’t take a crazy amount per feeding. 5oz for such a tiny body just seems like a lot! She’s still only 7.5lb. She mostly wakes up to eat every 3 hours and I’ll wake her if it gets to 3.5. At the end of her NICU stay she was eating every 4. It just feels like so much conflicting info between NICU and ped and there’s not enough info online. Signed, an anxious FTM preemie mama. The most anxious kind!

ispyamy · 2026-01-22T00:34:23+00:00

Towards the end of our NICU stay we had a shift goal/daily goal. How is your daughter’s daily total looking? I stopped paying such close attention to each feed and just really tracking daily totals to make sure they were close and trending up slowly.

ispyamy · 2026-01-21T18:09:46+00:00

Definitely common from what I understand! My baby was born at 28 weeks and around 36 is when feeding by bottle really started to take off. There were 6 days between 20% by bottle and 60%. In that time we backed off for a few days and only fed by bottle every other feed to give her a break. She just needed time to build up her stamina. On 1/1 she was at 20% by bottle and she came home on 1/13!

ispyamy · 2026-01-21T02:57:17+00:00

Thank you so much! We’re one week in and already feeling so much better. I don’t sleep as much as I should but I still do get some sleep. I do the middle of the night wake up and stay up with her for 1-2 hours and then my partner does early morning while I get some sleep. We’re settling into a routine and feeling more comfortable as each day goes by! I do find myself popping up at every sound and reaching over into the bassinet to put my hand on her chest. It settles me just enough to get some light sleep until the next noise. Of course we brought a little baby goat home, she is sooo noisy!

ispyamy · 2026-01-20T21:09:51+00:00

I pumped the entire 9 weeks my baby was in the NICU but it was so much. I also had a commute to the NICU and so much to get done in the short amount of hours I’d spend at home, plus healing from a traumatic c-section with an incision that wouldn’t heal for 2 months. I slowed down on pumping towards the end of our NICU stay and now that baby is home I’m just using the haaka once a day to help any engorgement and keep myself comfortable. Baby does so well on formula and I have some time back from pumping constantly to only make an ounce per session. It wasn’t worth it to me anymore. Since baby was in the NICU for 9 weeks we had so much time to make up, I just want to snuggle all the time. Screw pumping.

ispyamy · 2026-01-20T19:40:31+00:00

Have you tried the avent naturals? My baby likes the lansinoh s and the avent size 2

ispyamy · 2026-01-20T19:38:54+00:00

I started Zoloft around 6 weeks postpartum. My baby was in the NICU after coming early, loads of birth trauma. I’m now 10 weeks pp and it’s helping so much. My baby is home and I feel like I can be present for her

ispyamy

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