first birthday for 30 weekers

my kids are turning one a week from today! wow! but it's weird for me because they were born at 30 weeks and act way more like 9.5 months (their corrected age). that is what age we tell people they are, too, when they ask. eating cake will be interesting for them, because they just started finger foods! i know i have to celebrate their birthday ON their real birthday, but it's weird. am i the only one who feels this way who has super-preemie twins?

also, do you start whole milk on their real 1st b-day or on a year from their due date? thanks!

 

Mine were born at 33 weeks. We have always gone by their real age. I already started Natalie on whole milk a couple of days ago. I mix half formula, half whole milk. Nathan I am going to breastfeed until we decide we are ready to wean which is no time soon.

 

Mine were born at 26 weeks.

We had thier real birthday party on thier birthday.

I also celebrate the day they were due and the day they came home from the NICU.

 

Mine were born at 30 weeks too! On their birthday they were still only crawling so it was weird. To me it didn't even feel like their birthday, it was a sad day for me. It reminded me of all the NICU days and trials with it (and we were lucky that they didn't have any problems) I was REALLY happy on their NICU birthday though. We have celebrated that day for 2 years now and probably will for a while. To me, that feels like their "real" birthday.

Edited: I started whole milk according to their actual age.

 

Mine were born at 30 weeks and we celebrated everything like normal. We haven't treated them any other way and when people ask how old they are we say a year old. We actually had them evaluated for the ages & stages program and they said that they were right on track with their age!
We started whole milk when they turned 1.

 

I feel the same way. The boys were 8w early and just don't seem like 1year olds to me (maybe because I want them to stay babies) Everyone keeps asking are the walking? And they are so not walking.

We had a little get together on there actual b-day and will be having a big party this Sunday. But I also want to do something special on Aug 28 the day we got them home and on Oct 05 the day they were due, at least for this year.

Oh and we just started giving one bottle a day of whole milk and the others are still formula for now


Erica

 

Mine were born at 30 weeks and I can't believe they will be 8 months old tomorrow. I tell people their real age, but I'm constantly have to remind people why they aren't behaving as if they are 8 months old. I haven't had other kids, so when they turn one, I think they will seem like one-year-olds to me. I don't have anything else to compare it to. There are a lot of babies who aren't walking, etc. at one year yet, so I don't think it will be that weird.

I'm not sure about the whole milk. I plan to ask the Ped his thoughts at their 9 month appointment. We're just starting to get the hang of solids, so I'm guessing we'll do milk closer to one year adjusted age. We'll see...

Not meaning to highjack the thread, but I really think we should have a buddy group for babies who were born at 30 weeks. Anyone else interested?

 

I feel exactly the same. My boys turn 1 on September 19th and were 30 weekers. They won't have cake at their birthday. We're just now starting finger foods so they won't be ready for cake.

Daniel is crawling but Ben is very delayed and is only now figuring out how to roll over. So yes, it feels weird to celebrate their birthday already. But then again, I feel like making it through the last 12 months is definitely something worth celebrating! We made it!

We'll likely have a small celebration on the anniversary of their NICU release...to me that's when they are 1!

And no, we won't be going to whole milk until they are a year old ADJUSTED.

Cary

 

Mine were 32 weekers so a bit older. They did not have any cake at their birthday. I had not introduce milk products yet and I did not want a trip to the ER that day. I had to remind everyone no cake and no ice cream!!

We started whole milk at about 13 months actual.

 

QUOTE(Beth*J @ Aug 22 2008, 08:22 PM) [snapback]942944[/snapback]
Not meaning to highjack the thread, but I really think we should have a buddy group for babies who were born at 30 weeks. Anyone else interested?


The NICU forum is available for parents of preemies.

 

Mine were 35 weekers but were only crawling at 1 and, while they babbled constantly, they didn't have any words. They were always near the end of the "normal" range for most of their milestones. Still, by the time their birthday rolled around they'd been around for a year and we'd survived that first full year as parents of twins so celebrating their birthday was quite the milestone.

Congratulations on making it through the first year yourself!

 

Mine were 25 and almost 27 weekers. We had their first b-day on their actual b-day, well in between the two that is. :lol: But I made them each a cake on their actual b-day and they did have some. They had cake at their party too. We started whole milk a week or so before they turned 1.

I always felt like their actual b-day was their b-day, not their adjusted age. I didn't adjust anymore after they turned 1.

 

My boys were born 1 day shy of 36 weeks and they were nowhere NEAR walking on their first birthday. In fact, Caleb didn't actually crawl on hands and knees until a week after his b/day. I knew everyone there would bombard us with the "are they walking yet" question and I was sick with nerves the day before and totally ready to be on the defense. Turns out, everyone was so busy loving on them and playing with them that either no one noticed or no one cared that they were not standing or cruising or anything. They were pretty much in someone's lap the entire time. So try not to worry too much about this because it will take away from the joy of the day. And I bet you'll be as pleasantly surprised by the lack of questioning as I was . Good luck!