Eeep - knitters, please read

[Chromatix]

BTW, apparently a really good thing for newborns and especially preemies is full skin-to-skin contact. That's the most efficient way for the baby to keep the correct body temperature.

Since there are some cultures which practice this as a matter of course, finding a harness which makes this easy shouldn't be too difficult.

[Magpie]

She's not buying a baby carrier. She is just using a wrap, because it can be adjusted for different shapes. It doesn't give skin-to-skin normally, because the mother needs to wear clothing (or else her back will be bare).

I'm sure she's in touch with the local baby-wearing group, and they'll have advice on preemies as well as on full-term newborns. But I believe my friends are planning on not co-sleeping (Not giving an opinion on that, I ask that others don't either).

[fireheart]

in the US they are also commonly called 'sleep sacks'

I've seen those as well-to me they resemble sleeping bags with arm and head holes.

[CruiseShipGirl]

I wouldn't worry too much about the size. My son was born 6 weeks early and spent 12 days in the NICU. When I got discharged, I brought 8 preemie outfits for him to wear. 1 week later he was out of them and into the newborn stuff. I ended up donating the clothing to the NICU he had been in.

Since your friend's baby wasn't a micro-preemie, by the time they are 3 months old there shouldn't be too much of a difference.

On a side note - I couldn't help but notice your location. Me too (live in K, work in W). Nice to meet someone local.

[Magpie]

On a side note - I couldn't help but notice your location. Me too (live in K, work in W). Nice to meet someone local.

What, you feel the need to live in a city with hospitals ? Are you still working at the store where the parents bought each child an over priced snow suit because handing clothes down was for poor people?

[BethB]

I frequent the website www.knittingpatterncentral.com and they have a section for preemie knit patterns. Hope it helps and I hope baby and mom are well. My nephew was a preemie and he is now a healthy normal boy...well, as normal as a boy can be at 4 yrs.

[Magpie]

The baby is doing ok, the parents are exhausted from having to go back and forth to the hospital all the time (man, even if you live in the same city as a hospital having a kid there is expensive it would appear). They have told us how his name is spelt, but didn't include a pronunciation, so we don't really know what he's called yet.

He's still in the NICU, and is off his IV, but is feeding through a tube. He did try to nurse, but couldn't quite manage it. The mother will be allowed to sleep at the hospital once he starts breast feeding, so that she can feed him properly. The earliest time wise he can be discharged is tomorrow, but there's a few other milestones he needs to pass - such as being able to recline and breathe (like in a car seat) and nursing, and maintaining his body temperature. He is under UV lights because of a touch of jaundice.

Despite that laundry list, I get the impression that the doctors aren't really worried about him, this is all stuff that can be handled fairly routinely.

[CruiseShipGirl]

What, you feel the need to live in a city with hospitals ? Are you still working at the store where the parents bought each child an over priced snow suit because handing clothes down was for poor people?

Sure do - luckily in an administration role so I'm not on the floor dealing with customers very often. The store is moving to K next summer (the new Boardwalk center - I think we'll be barely on the K side). We probably employ some of your students (90% of our floor staff are from the universities)

He's still in the NICU, and is off his IV, but is feeding through a tube. He did try to nurse, but couldn't quite manage it. The mother will be allowed to sleep at the hospital once he starts breast feeding, so that she can feed him properly. The earliest time wise he can be discharged is tomorrow, but there's a few other milestones he needs to pass - such as being able to recline and breathe (like in a car seat) and nursing, and maintaining his body temperature. He is under UV lights because of a touch of jaundice.

My little dude had the feeding tube, full incubator to keep him warm, the UV lights and the IV. Now you'd never know he was born early. He never really took to breast feeding, so I had to pump and bottle feed. Apparently common with premies, but frustrating.

Hope your friend and her baby are doing well. Scary to have a kid in the NICU, even when you know they'll be fine. We were told he'd only be in for 3 days, then 7, then 10. Finally got him home after the 12 (just in time to attend his own baby shower). I felt like a bad mom because he had to be born early, lots of tears. Having a supportive friend will really help her out.

[Magpie]

You're not going to hire my students - engineering is full-time only. And you're better off spending your free time in a club, because that helps your marks and helps you get a job, where as working part-time does very little. And honestly, $100/wk doesn't mean a lot to a lot of students these days . The attitutude is basically "I'm going to graduate in debt, why worry over another thousand?" It's depressing.

The church my husband goes to (where I know these people from most recently) is divided into neighbourhood groups. The couple who just had the baby, and the couple who are feeding us these updates are the only people who aren't grandparents (or at least that age). I'm fairly sure that they're going to have a lot of help. Unfortunately perhaps not with painting, which is what they need right now .

[Magpie]

I have pictures now! I think that I just knit stuff for the hospital, because seriously, he's not that small.