Topics of Discussion
This will never end!

Preemie-l discussion forum       http://groups.yahoo.com/group/preemie-list

Lori remarks, "My heart goes out to you and your family. The exact same thing happened to us. I was there for almost every feed with my son because I had learned how to feed him so he wouldn’t choke/have bradys. My husband fed him a few times but eventually refused because our hospital policy is 10 days no bradys and he did not want to be there one minute longer. We were very lucky that I was able to stay at the hospital in a parent room. There was one feed that I didn’t do but I always requested a nurse that knew how to feed Nathan. When I got there one day the day nurse (who wasn’t the greatest anyway) fed him early and he had a brady, not only that but she didn’t help him out of it-just set him back in bed to see if he could clear it on his own. I was furious...he was choking! We were there 90+ days and what it took was making sure the nurses knew exactly how to handle Nathan when we weren’t there. I don’t know if Gavin has primary nurses, but I would insist on it now.
Another thing I just thought of Joel. In the end I did have to convince the neo that I could handle Nathan with feeds and I would be the one feeding him at home. She did release him based on this in the end. Perhaps you should have that chat with the neo."

Michelle responds, "My son came home having brady’s his only requirement was to feed every feeding by bottle and the whole bottle. My son was on Caffeine for his brady’s though and they pushed back his home date by two days because they had to up his caffeine, is Gavin on anything for his brady’s???"

Marieanne comments, "I know you must be so disappointed! I know it doesn’t make it any easier, but my son (I had boy/girl twins 10/2/00) could not go home until he had 5 days of no bradys including when he ate. I think from seeing some of your pictures on your web site that we share the same NICU so it must be some kind of policy there for that dr. Hopefully Gavin will be home soon. Maybe you should request that only the nurses feed Gavin. I know when mine were in the NICU, the nurses there did everything they could to help us get the kids home. Nothing that would risk their health but kinda knew our babies better than outsiders and knew what they were capable of."

Lisa shares, " Our James had his homecoming delayed 3 weeks due to bradys during feeding. They named him the "brady king." Especially since his last name was King. :) I gave James most of his bottles and instinctively knew, as you mentioned, when to help him. Actually, the last few days he was there he did brady during feeds, even though they have a "3 day policy." The nurse practitioner was standing beside me and winked and told me she was going to let it go. I was overjoyed. When we brought him home he didn’t brady once. Maybe it was the environment, we were both stressed out, who knows. When the time did come, we went crazy, putting blue bows on the door, mailbox, we even came home to a huge sign that the neighborhood kids had drawn, welcoming James to the neighborhood, and telling him how they couldn’t wait to play with him. It was great! It was as if the 3 months in the NICU had vanished, and we were coming home from the hospital after his delivery. We felt so normal, for once. Make a big production out of it, believe me, you’ll look back and smile ear to ear!"

Mary says, "I am so sorry to hear this. I can imagine your disappointment. Can he come home on a monitor? I’ll be praying for you guys."