Note: This article is only for personal experience sharing, please do not blindly copy and imitate.
The definition of premature infants is generally calculated by gestational age, and the surviving babies born before 37 weeks are premature infants. In other words, a full-term baby is born at 37 weeks. If it is less than 37 weeks, even if it is born at 36+6 weeks, it is premature. Babies with a birth weight of less than 2500 grams are collectively called low birth weight infants. Premature infants with birth weight 1000g ~ 1499g are very low birth weight infants. Premature infants born below1000g are ultra-low birth weight infants.
In addition, there is a very important concept related to premature infants, that is, correcting the age of months. Corrected age (month age) = actual age (month age)-premature month age, or calculated according to the expected date of delivery. For example, the expected date of birth of Qiqi in my family is 10/0/5, and the actual date of birth is September 17. Then his corrected monthly age should be calculated from the date of 165438+ 10/5, and now his corrected monthly age should be four and a half months, not six and a half months calculated according to the date of birth.
The height and weight of premature infants and the time to add complementary food should be calculated according to the corrected age (month age), especially the motor development and intellectual development, including intelligence test and neuromotor examination, should be judged according to the corrected age (month age). Until the baby is 2 years old, the age should be calculated according to the date of birth. It would be better if the physique and intelligence reached the birth age in advance.
So mothers of premature babies should not compare their babies with those full-term babies whose birth dates are almost the same. In the first few months, their babies certainly don't grow as well as those full-term babies. After all, they spend less time in their mother's stomach, so it takes some time to catch up with their growth. Therefore, mothers don't need to worry and worry about the development of premature infants according to the corrected monthly age, as long as the baby is within the normal curve.
Many premature babies will be sent to NICU for hospitalization immediately after birth, and the length of hospitalization depends on the developmental status assessed at birth. During the baby's hospitalization, the mother actually doesn't have to worry too much, because the hospital has advanced instruments and professional medical care, which is much more reassuring than taking care of it at home. Many mothers are anxious because their babies are hospitalized, which affects their physical recovery and breast milk secretion. Moreover, once the baby is out of NICU, whether it is feeding, nursing or rehabilitation, the mother needs to invest a lot of time and energy. Without a strong body, it can't be carried. After Qi Qi was born, my family stayed in the hospital for 39 days for a whole month. During confinement, in addition to eating well, sleeping hard and doing recovery training, my main task every day is to suck breast milk with a breast pump. On the one hand, you can let your aunt take your baby to the hospital every day, on the other hand, you can ensure that you don't withdraw your milk and let your baby have rations after discharge. You know, breast milk is very important for premature babies. It can not only meet their growth needs, but also contain various immune factors, which is the best armor to protect them. Therefore, if your baby is unfortunately born prematurely and needs hospitalization, don't spend time crying and blaming yourself, but cheer up, be strong, suck more milk, recover well, and welcome the baby out of the hospital in the best condition.
After the premature baby was discharged from the hospital, the mother's test had just begun. Because premature babies have not yet reached the expected date of delivery, the various system organs of the body have not yet fully developed, and their living ability is still relatively weak, which is prone to problems. Therefore, we can't treat them like full-term babies. We need more energy, more thoughts and more careful care from our mothers. However, mothers do not have to worry too much. As long as you follow the doctor's advice and pay attention to some details, premature babies can grow very healthy. My Kiki was only 1.45kg when she was born, and weighed a little more than 4kg when she was discharged from the hospital. Now she is almost15kg.
So, what should premature babies pay attention to after discharge? I share some of my own experiences.
When the baby is normal in all aspects of the hospital and reaches the discharge standard of the hospital, the hospital will inform the parents to pick up the baby and discharge it. When you leave the hospital, you should carefully write down the doctor's orders, such as what medicine to take, when to do what tests, and so on. Some premature babies have not reached the expected date of delivery when they leave the hospital, which means that even if they leave the hospital, the baby is still at gestational age, not at month age. Then it is very important to nurse from discharge to the expected date of delivery. When my family was discharged from the hospital, it was just 37 weeks, and the gestational age was less than 40 weeks.
Because premature babies are weak, their immunity is low, and they have been staying in the incubator of the hospital since birth. Therefore, when you just take it home, you need to pay attention to routine care: keep the bedroom air fresh, ventilate regularly, and take the baby to other rooms when breathing; Indoor temperature and humidity are suitable, air conditioning can be turned on in summer to keep constant temperature, and heating in winter should pay attention to moisturizing; Try to minimize contact with outsiders before the baby is full-term, and family members must pay attention to washing their hands before touching the baby; If the family has a cold, avoid touching the baby. If mother has a cold, she needs to wear a mask. Pay attention to the cleanliness of the bottle when feeding, but don't over-disinfect it; The skin of premature infants is not fully developed, so it is necessary to change diapers frequently, pay attention to nursing buttocks and avoid red buttocks; You can bathe your baby with clear water every day, and then touch your baby with olive oil or other baby oil, which is helpful for your baby's development. After Qi Qi was discharged from the hospital, because my husband was going to work, I was the only one at home to take care of him during the day. When he first came back, he slept most of the day, so I gave him a touch and massage while he was awake, and then I bathed him together when my husband came back from work at night. If it is winter, be sure to keep warm when bathing your baby.
The last month of pregnancy is the period when the fetus stores a lot of nutrients to increase fat and weight. Premature infants are born early, and their nutritional reserves are already insufficient. After birth, they have to grow rapidly to catch up with their weight, so the demand for nutrients is higher than that of full-term infants. However, the gastrointestinal system of premature infants is immature and the digestion and absorption ability is poor, so special attention should be paid to feeding.
Breast milk is the best food for premature and full-term infants. Breast milk is more important for premature babies. Because the composition of premature breast milk is different from that of full-term breast milk, it is beneficial to digestion and absorption, can promote the maturity of gastrointestinal tract of premature infants, improve immunity and contribute to the development of nervous system. However, for very low birth weight infants with very small gestational age, the nutrition absorbed by breast milk alone cannot meet the needs of their rapid growth, so it is necessary to use breast milk fortifier. Breast milk fortifier needs to be mixed with breast milk in a certain proportion and fed to the baby. It cannot be mixed with water or milk powder. About 0/5 days after Qiqi was admitted to the hospital, the hospital informed us to buy breast milk fortifier and send it there. Breast milk fortifier was added until Qiqi weighed 7 kg after discharge. I have to say that breast milk fortifier is very expensive (Abbott's box of 580 yuan is only 50 bags, and * * * is 45g), but it is really effective in helping the baby catch up with the growth. If the breast milk is not enough, you need to feed special formula for premature infants, and you can't directly feed ordinary baby milk powder.
In terms of feeding, premature babies need more careful care from their mothers. Because their stomachs are small, they can't eat too much or too little milk at a time. Too much milk is easy to vomit, too little milk is malnourished. Moreover, they get tired easily when they are breastfeeding, and it takes a long time to eat a meal. In the first half of her life, Qi Qi could not eat independently in the hospital, so she needed a combination of gastric feeding tube and intravenous nutrition. Later, I slowly started to eat 1ml, 5ml, 10ml at a time, and I could eat 30ml at a time when I was discharged from the hospital. It takes about an hour before and after feeding. And you must be very careful and patient when feeding, otherwise it is easy to choke and spit milk. Massage his buttocks every time after feeding. If you are choked by milk, don't pat your back vertically, but let your baby lie on your side or lie prone to prevent milk from entering the trachea and choking. If there is enough breast milk, the mother can kiss the baby until the baby doesn't need to add breast milk fortifier. If the mother's milk is too urgent, you can squeeze it by hand first to avoid choking the baby.
Premature babies sleep most of the time. The younger the gestational age, the more time they need to sleep. In addition to breastfeeding, mothers should not disturb their babies' sleep. Because the baby's auxin is secreted during sleep, the sleep foot grows fast. Changing diapers, changing clothes, taking a bath, stroking, etc. should be done together as much as possible. The bedroom should also be quiet, and the light should not be too strong. When Qi Qi just left the hospital, I usually burp him first after changing his diaper and feeding him milk in the morning. At the same time, Doby wouldn't let him fall asleep so quickly, so he gave a good burp and put him on the bed to touch him. Bathing is usually arranged at night when the husband is at home. After the baby wakes up, change the diaper and take a bath immediately, then feed him and burp him to sleep.
Premature infants need to supplement vitamin A and vitamin D, especially vitamin D, and take more in the first three months after birth. Because premature babies need to catch up with their growth after birth, their physical development needs more calcium than full-term babies, and the absorption and utilization of calcium needs sufficient vitamin D. At that time, Qi Qi took another vitamin D alone besides vitamin AD preparation. It was not until three months after age correction that trace elements were detected that they began to eat only vitamin AD preparations.
The intestinal function of premature infants was not fully developed at birth, so probiotics should be supplemented to regulate the growth of normal intestinal flora and improve constipation. It is usually added to milk and fed to babies.
In addition, premature infants are prone to iron deficiency anemia, and iron should be supplemented in time after birth. The amount of supplement should be adjusted according to the baby's weight in time. But the taste of iron is very bad, and Qiqi has been eating it for more than two months and it is difficult to feed it. Later, the blood test showed that it was only mild anemia (because I had thalassemia, so maybe he also had it), so the doctor suggested supplementing iron through complementary food, so I didn't add iron.
When premature babies leave the hospital, the doctor will inform them about the re-examination. If you don't reach the expected date of delivery when you leave the hospital, you will generally be asked to review it at the expected date of delivery. The content of the review is mainly the evaluation of growth and development, including height, weight, head circumference, muscle tension and other related items. For premature babies, reexamination is very important. After all, not every mother is a pediatrician. Through doctors' regular follow-up and professional evaluation, abnormal signals in the development of premature infants, such as muscle tension or posture, can be found in time, and targeted guidance and training methods can be given according to the baby's specific situation.
After Qi Qi was discharged from the hospital, he was reexamined every half month, and his age 1 month was corrected. 1 month to 3 months correction period, review once a month; After correcting the age of 3 months, check it every two months. Every review, the doctor will ask Kiki about her feeding and nursing, including how many milliliters of milk she eats several times a day (when bottle-feeding), urine and sleep, and whether there are any special circumstances. In addition, we will also check Kiki's physical development, muscle tension and nerve movement, such as follow-up, listening direction and basic reflex. At the same time, some suggestions on feeding and early education will be given according to Kiki's specific situation, such as whether it is necessary to increase the amount of milk and how to do big and intensive exercise at home.
Premature infants are prone to retinopathy because of their early birth and immature retinal vessels. After the discovery of this fundus lesion, the appearance can't be seen, but the consequences are very serious. If it is not found in time and treated late, it will cause permanent injury and even blindness. Therefore, it is necessary to go to the hospital regularly to review the fundus.
Qiqi began to check the fundus every half month after reaching the age of correction, until the doctor told her that the retina was fully developed. This fundus screening will take a whole morning at a time, and the eye drops for mydriasis alone will be dropped five or six times. After that, just wait until he is four years old and enters the kindergarten for an eye test.
In addition, premature infants are prone to hydrocephalus, so the head circumference data at each review is very important. When Qi Qi was discharged from the hospital, she had an MRI of her head, and everything was normal. After 1 month-old correction, the head circumference increased rapidly every time. The doctor suggested a head B-ultrasound. The report shows that the left ventricle is slightly widened, but the doctor does not recommend surgery, only that dynamic observation is needed. After two months of observation, the growth of head circumference gradually slowed down, and we were relieved. Maybe he's just a big-headed baby. ^_^
I think every premature baby is in such a hurry to come into this world because he can't wait to see his mother. They are all mothers' angels. Although it is hard to take care of premature babies, I feel the greatness and wonder of life every time I witness his growth and change.
Now my Qiqi is no longer a baby younger than a cat when she was born. He loves to laugh, but he gives me great courage and strength. If the baby is born prematurely, don't blame yourself, don't be sad, believe in the baby and believe in yourself. Come on ~
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