u/Comfortable_Ad6552

My daughter was recently born at 30w6d due to preeclampsia and fetal distress. Once born it was discovered she had IUGR as well and was born weighing only 1,066 grams. Otherwise she's doing well with CPAP on room air, tolerating feeds well so far and has a line in her umbilical. She's had a few low blood sugars and mildly elevated bilirubin and they have her under a light and she's already doing better. However she has been losing weight.

It's only been 72 hours since her birth and she's already lost 10% of her birth weight, down to 960 grams. They're going to start fortifying her breast milk tomorrow and she has been tolerating feeds well. I know it's normal for her to lose weight in the first few days and the NICU team doesn't seem concerned yet but she's just so TINY, and it has me worried that she's just never going to gain weight and she's just going to waste away.

When should I be worried about her weight? I know there are lots of success stories for babies like mine and I know we're incredibly lucky for her to be doing as well as she is otherwise, but has anyone experienced their IUGR baby fail to gain weight?

I'm very newly postpartum and am still working on getting into a routine. Baby is in the NICU (born just before 31 weeks due to issues with preeclampsia and IUGR) and I'm trying to keep up a supply that I'm bringing to her with daily visits. So far she's doing well and I think pumping is going well. I'm about 60 hours (2&1/2 days) post C-section and I'm getting about 15-20 mLs per pumping session done every 2-3 hours regularly and I notice this slowly increasing with each session.

I have both a Medela hand pump and an elvie stride wearable electronic pump and I do get about the same volume regardless of which I use. I strongly prefer my Elvie pump with it being hands-free and the flange shape being a bit more suitable for my anatomy, and I do feel like I get really good suction from it but I've heard that you don't want to rely on electronic pumps alone when exclusively breastfeeding as it can lead to decreased supply.

So how often should I be using the hand pump instead of the electronic pump during this stage?

So a bit about my current situation. I was recently hospitalized on bed rest for preeclampsia at around 30 weeks pregnant. I've been told I won't be leaving the hospital until after baby comes, which could be between 32-34 weeks gestation. It's most likely she'll be coming via C-section to avoid the stress of an induction on baby, and once she's here she'll require a somewhat lengthy NICU stay depending on when she's born and how well she does.

I live in the US and I only have 12 weeks unpaid FMLA leave for this time, including the time spent in the hospital before I even have the baby, and I hate that so much of my leave time will be spent before the baby is even here, and then again even more being spent with her in the NICU once she is here instead of at home bonding and getting to see her first smiles and giggles and coos.

I am hoping to take split leave and return to work as soon as possible after having my C-section, so that I can take the remainder of my leave when my baby comes home from the NICU, but I know you're supposed to be out for 6-8 weeks after a C-section. I work in an office in healthcare (think like regular doctors office, no heavy lifting but some bending over and lots of walking/standing/sitting) so my job isn't strenuous, but recovery may be a bit difficult due to deconditioning in a hospital bed for so long beforehand.

Does anyone have experience returning to work quickly after having a C-section? I normally would listen to general guidelines for recovery times but given the circumstances I want to save as much of my FMLA time for when baby is home.

So my world was completely flipped upside down a week ago when I was diagnosed with preeclampsia at 29w5d pregnant. Since then I've been on hospital bed rest and we're hoping we can make it to 32 weeks if not 34 weeks before baby has to come. Due to intermittent AEDF baby will very likely be born via C-section to avoid the additional stress of an induction on baby

So obviously this will result in a NICU stay, length and such will vary depending on when baby comes and how well she does once she's here. Obviously my husband and I are apprehensive (more like terrified) about what is to come, but everyone seems optimistic about baby girl's chances.

My question being what is there to be done about FMLA? I live in the US where we only get 12 weeks unpaid leave and I'm the primary earner in our home. We saved enough for me to take the full 12 weeks to bond with baby as this is our first child, but with high hospital bills and NICU bills financially there may be a struggle.

I dread the idea of having to go to work right when baby comes home from the NICU, but if I have a C-section I'll have to be out for 8 weeks after I have the baby anyway, for recovery so I might use up all my leave just between this hospitalization and recovery as it is

Does anyone have any experiences with this? Did some people return to work early after having a C-section while baby was still in NICU and then take the rest of their leave once baby was home? Or would it be better to take the full leave continuously even if I have to return right when baby comes home?

Update: Baby girl was born via C-section 10 minutes before the day she would have been 31 weeks. She was growth restricted by weight, only 2lbs 5.6 oz at birth but the ultrasound never caught it because her head and length were still within normal percentiles. She has been apparently thriving in NICU, only needing room air on CPAP, no need for surfactant or intubation, and other than some initially low glucose her lab numbers have been great. I can't believe how incredibly lucky we are to have her doing this well.

I didn't get to see her for 24 hours due to being stuck in a magnesium drip. It was so hard to reconcile such a tiny little body with my baby that I've been hearing about "doing so well." This is going to be so incredibly hard to go through but I recognize that we are incredibly lucky to have a baby that is doing so well.given her very young gestational age. I greatly appreciate all of the advice everyone has given, and wish everyone else the best with their small babies.