anyone with preemies?

I know our twins won't even be considered preemies anymore in a year but I still worry about alot of things, some preemie related and some not. I worry about crowds in the winter and them getting sick. I worry about sids (even though I think they are too old for that now) or something happening to them while they are sleeping or on the rare occasion I am not with them (and dh or mil is). I worry about some of their issues. They both have ENT issues and dd was born with a brain bleed (although she is doing fine now). Ds had hernia surgery at 2 months old and he had a bad reaction to the anesthesia. While he was getting set up in his room, I was holding him and he had a REALLY bad brady and turned blue. It was the most awful moment of my life. I worry that that did something to his brain. I worry alot about them having neurological issues due to being born so early, a difficult pregnancy and all the bradys during their 7 weeks in the NICU. I mean I don't dwell on this stuff all the time, but it is things that I think about. Does it ever get easier? I know there will always be things to worry about but when does it end about this kind of stuff?

 

My girls were born just a few days before yours. I still worry about certain things. They didnt have to have any type of surgery, didnt have PDA, brain bleeds or anything like that. There worse problem was apnea and bradys and had to have a monitor until they were 7 months old (last real brady was at 4 months old, I pushed for them to stay on as long as possible b/c they were so bad in the NICU and when we brought them home) I still check on them every nite to make sure they are breathing, I think that is a mommy thing and not so much a preemie thing though. I am concerned about large crowds and getting sick, even though they've only been sick 3 times since birth with minor colds (all while teething)

But I still worry that there is something that will pop up as they get older. I think that is a parent thing too. So I guess I am of no help to you! My girls will be turning 2 in a few months and are doing AMAZING! but I still worry....

 

Micro-preemies here! I stopped worrying so much when they turned 1 and started walking. This year, I do worry about them getting sick, especially with an older sister in school, but realize I can only do so much. But for me the "preemie issue" worry went away once they started walking, I felt like they were all caught up then.

 

I don't know when it ended...sometime within the last year. McKenna had a bilateral grade III brain bleed which was probably my biggest concern for her overall health. She came home on a monitor for 2 mos bc of constant brady's as well. We are so forunate that she has been great so far. Mitchell had a grade II on the left side and also has been fine. He also had stage 1 ROP that went away. Both had pda's but went away. Mitchells narrow airway is now fine, although has given us many a scary and sleepless nights. We still have a sat monitor at home for him but only used it every night from 13 mos old till about 2 yrs old. As far as developmentally, Mitchells speech is the only thing that is still in the back of my mind that I am concerned about...no one else has said anything...just a mommy worry. I feel so fortunate that right now my babies are healthy and doing good. It was a long road, and the first year is the toughest I think preemie wise...but it will all be a memory of the past soon!

 

My girls were 31 weekers. We are very thankful that all that we had to deal with was apnea and brady's. They came home on monitors but we never had any problems. After the 18 month point, I didn't think of them as preemies anymore. They had caught up to the other kids developmentally and hadn't had any health problems. They are 31 lbs and are much bigger than other kids their age. They are just normal toddlers now.

 

Once they were both walking, I stopped worrying for the most part. Mind you I still have normal new mom to toddlers worries, but I've let the preemie stuff go. The biggest preemie worry I have today is whether I'd have another preemie if we tried again.

Now I say that, but one of my DD's just started walking well about 2 weeks ago! So I had some reason to worry on that one, since she was 20.5 months old at that point.