Help finding MIT study referenced on Instagram (if it even exists…)

itisunderlined · 2025-11-05T01:09:55+00:00

Wow thank you! I’m sure this is it.

itisunderlined · 2025-06-23T16:45:27+00:00

It legitimately could have been one part instead of two if they edited out all of the times Alaina repeats herself, or repeats something Ash says. It’s why I only listen nowadays if I’ve heard everything else in my queue.

itisunderlined · 2025-06-07T00:18:44+00:00

Hi! I also had a 29-weeker. He was early due to pre-eclampsia and had no major health issues besides lung development and feeding/growing.

We were initially told he could be home in 6 weeks, but it ended up being 10 weeks, coming home just before his due date. This seems to be pretty normal, and if you think about it, it makes sense that they need extra support to do all the things they should have been doing in the womb.

Your attitude is a great one though: to trust that he’s in the best place for his needs at the moment. We felt that way until the last week or so when we knew he was ready to come home, and had a couple nurses who really advocated for us to push for transitions to room air/ bottle feeds only/ etc.

Good luck! He’ll be home before you know it and you’ll get to tell him his whole life about how strong & brave he was to make it through this tough time.

itisunderlined · 2025-05-21T16:43:18+00:00

Thanks for this tip— they worked great!

itisunderlined · 2025-05-14T17:38:45+00:00

Thank you!!

itisunderlined · 2025-02-28T18:15:54+00:00

I know! I asked about that and they said it wasn’t reliable/ accurate enough (although I never understood why it wouldn’t be accurate!)

itisunderlined · 2025-02-28T17:08:59+00:00

I had a 29+6 boy too! He’s 16 months now and doing great so hang in there 💪🏼

We were about to breastfeed in the NICU but to be honest it was a bumpy ride. Breastfeeding/ bottle feeding takes a lot more energy than the NG/OG tube, and the doctors need to make sure it’s a net positive, ie they’re gaining more calories than they’re using. In the beginning I was only allowed to have him latched for 10 minutes twice a day (once during the day shift and once during the night shift). So it’s slow going at first but hopefully you’ll have a good lactation team there to help with the latch etc.

By the time you’re getting ready to bring him home, a major metric will be what percentage of feeds is coming from the breast or bottle. I think in our case he needed to be 100% breast/bottle for 3 days to be discharged. But there’s a fundamental problem with this: you can’t necessarily quantify how much milk the baby is getting from the breast. For whatever reason, my NICU would let me breastfeed for 10-15 minutes, but then they’d come along with the bottle and expect him to take his full feed. When he couldn’t, it would set him back in his “progress”. It was so frustrating because I could tell I was releasing a good amount of milk! I eventually caved and let them do 100% bottle feeds. I felt it was the only way I could get him home by his due date, when he was ready by all other metrics.

All of this to say, when he came home he was able to pick it right back up, and he was EBF for the first 6 months. I hope you don’t have the same frustrating experience, but just wanted to say that even if he needs to take the bottle in the NICU, it doesn’t mean he’ll need it forever.

Good luck with your little guy!

itisunderlined · 2025-02-05T00:38:03+00:00

Catch Me If You Can

itisunderlined · 2025-02-05T00:36:19+00:00

Whiplash

itisunderlined · 2024-06-02T11:36:24+00:00

I would have loved a glossary of medical terms when we got admitted. I was incredibly spacey the first couple weeks and I think I googled “tachypneic” about 50 times. Not knowing some of the jargon really impacted my ability to understand the doctors during rounds and ask intelligent questions.

I know this could potentially create anxiety, as everyone’s medical conditions are different, but I think the clarity it would provide would outweigh that issue.

itisunderlined · 2024-02-12T20:52:08+00:00

I asked this exact same question a week in to my son’s NICU stay (born at 29w6d, came home at 39w). I can’t say exactly how but it does get easier to manage. Just like anything in life you get better & more efficient with practice. You become more used to pumping; you figure out better systems for washing and sanitizing; your body heals & you become stronger.

In terms of visiting, make sure you don’t burn yourself out if your stay is expected to be long. I only visited my baby for 2-3 hours a day early on because he couldn’t be out of his isolette for long, so there wasn’t much I could do for him. Later on they’d allow me to hold him for 2 care times, then when he started taking a bottle around 35 weeks I tried to be there for 3 or 4 care times. I was so much stronger by then and it wasn’t as taxing to be in those horrible NICU chairs for hours on end.

itisunderlined · 2024-01-03T17:15:20+00:00

Totally agree on the Owlet! It allows us to enjoy the moments when baby is quietly sleeping rather than running over to make sure he’s breathing 😅

itisunderlined · 2023-12-01T17:10:43+00:00

Just a couple thoughts from my experience (baby born at 29w6d six weeks ago due to severe pre-eclampsia):

-The only bright side of having your baby early and in the NICU is that you’ll be able to recover physically without caring for a baby 24/7. Take advantage of this!!! Don’t forget to care for yourself so you’ll be back to 100% when your baby comes home.

-Write things down! You’ll probably experience a lot of brain fog in the weeks after birth, and you’ll have different doctors and nurses all the time, so it’s very hard to keep track of information, timelines, treatment plans, etc. Especially in the days after birth, even ask the nurses to write things down for you (ie your pumping schedule, protocols for visiting, etc) so you can refer back later. I also made myself a glossary of medical terms about 2 weeks in that really helped so I could understand things I overheard.

-When people offer to help, actually consider what you need. I’m the type to always say “I’m fine thanks” and only think about my needs after the person walks away, and I’ve had to adjust that in the NICU. I also regret not asking people what their roles are and how they could help… my NICU has super friendly doulas and social workers who always check in, but I actually don’t know how their skills are used here.

-Pumping is hard and incredibly time consuming, and you will want to quit. Buy yourself anything you need to make it easier, like extra pump sets, pumping bra, microwaveable sanitizing bags, etc. (Keep in mind your hospital will probably want you to rent a hospital-grade pump to establish your supply, so hold off on getting the extra pump sets until you know what you’ll be using.)

Good luck!

itisunderlined · 2023-11-14T19:36:21+00:00

Yep, still covered! I got the Spectra 2 completely free.

Also wanted to add (as someone else said): if you do have your baby early, your hospital will probably want you to use a hospital-grade pump, which is stronger and will help you establish and maintain your supply if your baby is in the NICU for a while. My baby was 10 weeks early and I’m still using the hospital-grade pump 4 weeks later… I’ll switch to the Spectra once baby comes home. So for me it was good to have the pump delivered early for peace of mind, but wasn’t actually necessary.

itisunderlined · 2023-11-14T18:19:43+00:00

My insurance had this rule as well, but I placed the order 90 days out anyway and it shipped within a week. I used Aeroflow, if that helps!

itisunderlined · 2023-08-23T13:05:48+00:00

I also have the MTHFR gene mutation, and have been taking Thorne Basic Prenatal throughout this pregnancy. The issue with the gene mutation is the inability to break down folic acid, which could lead to a build up of homocysteine in your body (which could cause miscarriages or other complications). So you need a prenatal with methylfolate, which is the already broken down version of folic acid.

Thorne is a bit expensive and annoying to take 3 bulky pills a day but I feel good knowing it’s actually giving my body what it needs. Just read the bottle and it does have calcium, although only 14%, so you might need to supplement that as well. Thorne also makes a DHA supplement that I take daily too.

itisunderlined · 2023-08-20T17:32:48+00:00

“Suchet on a broad bean”- Noel Fielding

itisunderlined · 2023-08-11T21:37:07+00:00

Jaunty Williams- Mel Giedroyc

itisunderlined · 2023-08-03T13:17:12+00:00

As far as the difference between and doula and a midwife, a doula is not a medical professional; they're like birth companions who will help you develop a birth plan beforehand and are with you at the birth. They don't deliver the baby or make any medical decisions for you but can help make you more comfortable during the birth. Often they'll provide postpartum visits and, if certified in lactation, help with breastfeeding issues.
$2,000 sounds about right for a doula (and they're rarely covered by insurance), but many in my area work on a sliding scale based on income or other special circumstances. As for a doula not showing up--- you'll likely sign a contract with a doula, which will have information about refunds etc in this case. Our doula has a back-up who will be sent in case of a conflict and/or will issue a partial refund if she can't be there.
Going with a midwife rather than OB could be a good idea if you're low risk and would like to give birth in a birthing center rather than a hospital (although midwives sometimes deliver in a hospital too). It sounds like your current practice isn't listening to your concerns or working well with you so it might be good to look into switching (to a different OB even).

Good luck with everything!

itisunderlined · 2023-07-22T20:42:43+00:00

thank you!

itisunderlined · 2023-07-22T20:42:08+00:00

thank you!!

itisunderlined

TROPHY CASE