One of the first questions any parent is going to ask after they receive the first status on their new premature baby is about how long the baby will have to stay in the NICU. While it is not possible to give an exact answer to that question, once doctors have had a chance to thoroughly look over your baby, they can give you a good idea about how long you can expect to be visiting your preemie in the NICU. Remember that this is a guess and your baby could stay longer, or could go home sooner.
The answer we got when we asked how long with my baby be in the NICU was something I suspect is pretty standard. They told us to expect him to be there until his original due date. For us, that was three months away, and seemed like an eternity. This may be the answer they give to most parents if their preemie does not have any major medical issues other than those associated with infant prematurity. This may be a fail safe, as if they tell parents a shorter time, and the baby must stay longer, those parents tend to get really upset. Expect them to give you a guess but remember they can not give you a definite day.
There are many things that are going to determine how long your preemie will be in the NICU. If your baby has a brain bleed, that has to clear up. My son has a level one, which went away or healed on its own. It was not serious. However, babies with level three or four brain bleeds may have to stay longer. If your baby starts to digest foods right away, that can shave some time off of your NICU stay. A baby that struggles with this may stay longer, but not always. Each baby and each problem is different, that is why they can not do more than guess.
Some babies are naturally going to be in the NICU longer than others. Those that require surgery for serious heart defects may have a much longer stay. Those that need the ventilator for a while have a long way to go before they are breathing on their own. Some babies just get out of the NICU quicker than others. You have to keep telling yourself that if your preemie did not need to be there, he or she would be home with you. The last thing you want is to take a baby home that is not ready.
For some reason, boys tend to stay in the NICU longer than girls. This is not a fact by any means, but an observation by some of the NICU nurses that cared for my son. They told me that they noticed that girls tend to develop and go home faster than boys though they could not tell me why. This is not true with all premature babies, of course, but just an observation by those that work in the NICU.
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