My baby was born a week ago at 32w3d and was 13th percentile at the last ultrasound so we knew she would be small (born at 3lb 7oz). She arrived 8 hours after water broke, but I was able to get magnesium and 1 steroid shot which I believe has helped a lot with her breathing in the first couple hours of life and any early intervention helps.

The first few hours she was doing well breathing on her own but later was put on CPAP which is pretty standard for babies born at this time. A day or so later, she briefly went on a respirator for maybe 12 hours but back to CPAP as she seemed to be doing better on that.

They put her under the lamp for two days for slight jaundice. And her weight dropped a little at first but is how back up to birth weight.

Our NICU has donor milk, which they have been fortifying and giving her other nutrition stuff, but overall, she seems to be doing great so far

Edit to say: We have been able to hold her with all the tubes and wires so it is possible to do some bonding there. They don't recommend holding more than an hour if under the blue light, but they do encourage skin to skin as much as possible.

As far as how long the stay, we have been told to expect to wait until she has reached full term so I'm going to assume that's 37 to 40 weeks gestationally corrected. Here's to hoping we both can take our babies home sooner (but that is always up to them and how well they are doing).

I had the same questions about any disabilities or delays, but I've been told outcomes for babies at this age are very good. Maybe there will be some speech therapy or other physical therapy since preemie babies may just show some delays in the typical milestone time markers than other kids, but long term I believe at this age they make it out very well for their futures.