Premmie Babies Born at 34 Weeks Gestation

Premmie Babies Name: Tristan Riley
Gestation Born: 34+3 weeks
Weight When Born: 3090 grams 6lb 13oz
Length When Born: 50 cms
Current Age: 9 months
Current Weight Now: 7kg
Babies Outlook/Ongoing Issues: Apart from being small Tristan is doing really well. He is crawling, sitting, standing ect. He does have a minor leg issue which looks to be self resolving (and ironically would have been worse had he been born at term) He has a weak immune system, but handles things very well when he is sick. He is still breastfeeding too!

Advice From Parents: Take LOTS of photos. Keep a diary. Stand up for yourself and your baby. Take people up on their offers to help.
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Premmie Babies Name: Zachary
Gestation Born: 34 weeks
Weight When Born: 2052gms
Length When Born: 44.5cm
Current Age: 5 1/2 years
Current Weight Now: 18kgs
Babies Outlook/Ongoing Issues: Zach has been recently diagnosed with ADHD. He also has asthma and still suffers from reflux.
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Premmie Babies Name: Lachlan James
Gestation Born: 34 weeks
Weight When Born: 1610grams
Length When Born: 40 cm
Current Age: 7 months
Current Weight Now: 6.2kg
Babies Outlook/Ongoing Issues: Lachlan is going really well but still has a low weight for his age. He just needs to keep putting on weight and he wil be fine.

Advice From Parents: If you want to breast feed you can. It is a lot of work trying to constanly express but it is well worth it in the long run. Don’t get disheartened it does take a while for premmie babies to be able to breast feed.
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Premmie Babies Name: Eloise Mae Piper
Gestation Born: 34weeks
Weight When Born: 2kg
Length When Born:
Current Age: 9 1/2 years
Current Weight Now: 27kg
Babies Outlook/Ongoing Issues: Eloise is doing wonderfully now after a rocky start. She is dainty for her age & still has asthma issues, but they are the only lingering effects from her prematurity

Advice From Parents: Remember it is your baby, advocate for him/her whenever possible & take tonnes of photo’s, you will never believe they were so small when they are nearly 10 years old!!!

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Premmie Babies Name: Melissa
Gestation Born: 34 weeks
Weight When Born: 1675 g (3 pounds 11 ounces)
Length When Born: 41 cm
Current Age: 17 months
Current Weight Now: 9.5kg
Babies Outlook/Ongoing Issues: She is doing really well, she still has a hole in her heart but doesn’t let that stop her from being extremely active and always looking for mischief. She is a little underweight for her age but loves her food!
Advice From Parents: It may seem like a long time to wait until you get your baby home with you but the time will come and it will be worth it.. Take as many photos as you can, you will forget how small your baby was!
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Premmie Babies Name: Jack Thomas
Gestation Born: 34wks
Weight When Born: 2280gm
Length When Born: 47.5cm
Current Age: 19mths
Current Weight Now: 11kg
Babies Outlook/Ongoing Issues: Jack has just started walking, much to our joy! He has been seeing a physio to monitor his gross motor skills, but that should cease shortly. Other than that he has had no health issues at all. He is definitely growing at a faster rate than his older sister, (Eleanor, 27wks 6days), we can see him being taller and bigger than her in no time with his appetite!
Advice From Parents: Being our second prem, we had a little insight into what we were in for, but every baby is different. We went into this with the same positive determination we held with our first. Having a toddler being separated from Mummy most of the time was very hard, we tried to include her in everything, make sure she was a part of the whole journey whenever possible. Goodbyes were always the hardest thing, leaving our little tiny babe behind every night, but we always tried to say goodbye with a smile. The little ones are less likely to be very upset if you have a smile, they know that all must be ok, I know you love me, you aren’t really sad so I will try not to be. We still apply that to everyday.
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Premature Babies Name: Charlotte Lilly
Gestation Born: 34 weeks
Weight When Born: 1987 grams
Length When Born: 42 cm
Current Age: 5 months
Current Weight Now: 5650 grams
Babies Outlook/Ongoing Issues: Charlotte was a baby that was diagnosed with gastroschis, meaning her bowles were on the outside of her body at birth. After repair at 4 hours old, the routine cranial (head/brain) ultrasound was done. It showed an abnormality, we went for an MRI and that showed Charlotte had brain damage, most likely from a stroke before birth. Charlotte today still does not feed normally (is fed via PEG), has no hearing, has milestone issues and motor skills issues, but none of those issues change the love we have for her. She has overcome so much at the beginning of her life and we are very proud of her!!!

Advice From Parents: Stand up for yourself in the hospital, your are the childs mother and have a right to be as involved as possible with your child. Also try and chat with other parents, i made some of the most wonderful friends up there that are going through similar circumstances, they will be treasured for life!!!
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Premature Babies Name: Holly Louise
Gestation Born: 34 weeks
Weight When Born: 2430gms
Length When Born: 48cm
Current Age: 26 months
Current Weight Now: 12kgs
Babies Outlook/Ongoing Issues: We were very lucky, our early arrival had no major health issues, she spent 24 hours in the humidicrib and then 12 days of being gavaage fed before she started breast feeding. She came home 2 weeks after being born. She has reached milestone development points at the same rate as other babies born full term but didn’t catch up on the height and weight until she was about 18 months old. At 12 months she was diagnosed with a congenital bladder abnormality called Epispadias which will need to be corrected with surgery around 4 or 5 years of age. She will suffer from some incontinence until that time (nothing that pull ups can’t deal with).

Advice From Parents: Stay as positive as possible and make sure you have lots of friend / family support around you for the hard days.

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