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The Sew What’s New Archive
This archived content is from Mary Wilkins’ sewing and
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From: ColleenS
Date: 02-05-2004, 03:38 AM (1 of 22)
I am a new grandma to be who is going to be getting a little preemie granddaughter in the next couple of weeks. She is going to be barely 2 pounds and only about 16 inches long when she is born. My daughter has what is called PIH, or pregnancy induced hypertension, and she is in the hospital being monitored along with the babe in hope that they can put off the delivery longer. She is at 30 weeks gestation now and are hoping to get them both to 32 weeks at least before the baby has to be delivered by C-section. The hospital has a limited number of sleepers, gowns, socks, and caps for these little babies once they are out of the isolette warmers and I am trying to make as many things as I can for the hospital as well as for my granddaughter. Doll clothes are ok to a point and then they just don't work.... the construction is poor on premade things and the patterns don't allow for adding snaps on the sleeves as well as the legs and up the front. I am not good at altering patterns! Buying preemie clothes is outrageously expensive; $10 - $20 for a little sleeper!!! I would appreciate any help in finding patterns or getting suggestions about altering doll clothes patterns.
I have found that life is tough but I'm tougher!
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User: ColleenS
Member since: 01-31-2004 Total posts: 8 
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From: dmoses
Date: 02-05-2004, 08:11 AM (2 of 22)
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Hi Colleen, Here is a link for some patterns. http://www.bevscountrycottage.com/baby.html#sewing If you do a search on www.google.com you may find more. Try putting something like 'sewing patterns-preemie' in the search box. Take care,
Donna |
User: dmoses
Member since: 02-22-2002 Total posts: 964 
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From: Magot
Date: 02-05-2004, 02:31 PM (3 of 22)
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Try some of these too, http://members.aol.com/mypreemiepattern/Page1.html http://www.geocities.com/bwcharitycreations/sewingpatterns.html http://www.touchinglittlelives.org/sewing.html http://www.newbornsinneed.org/index.html I mostly knit for premmies but these seem good. love and kisses, Jan
Guts-R-Us Cells a Speciality DNA to order. |
User: Magot
Member since: 12-22-2002 Total posts: 3626 
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From: MaryW
Date: 02-07-2004, 08:05 AM (4 of 22)
Hi Coleen, congratulations on the new granddaughter. Good luck with her.
MaryW
owner/editor of Sew Whats New |
User: MaryW
Member since: 06-23-2005 Total posts: 2542 
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From: ColleenS
Date: 02-09-2004, 02:46 AM (5 of 22)
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Thank you all for your help! I have been crocheting little preemie hats and sewing fleece booties from patterns I found on one of the web sites suggested. I have 4 sleepers cut out from a pattern I also got from one of the web sites. I am going to be up most of the night sewing and hopefully have all of these things done by the time I get 'the call'. LOL! Jessica has had some contractions and the doctor says that since her BP is steadily going up he feels it will be best to deliver the baby in the next couple of days. I have to stay up tonight anyway to be ready for a test I will have done tomorrow on myself so this is a perfect way to stay awake. I'll let you all know when she arrives! By the way, the latest BPP test showed she is up to about 2 pounds 7 ounces and is showing the necessary breathing motions.  Thanks again!! I have found that life is tough but I'm tougher!
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User: ColleenS
Member since: 01-31-2004 Total posts: 8
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From: Pudge99
Date: 02-09-2004, 02:03 PM (6 of 22)
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As a mom of preemies I must say thank you! There are not a lot of clothes out there for the little ones. That being said, my preemies were not wearing clothes until they were around 4-5 lbs. The doctors and nurses like to be able to see how the babies look at a glance. Most preemies are not allowed to wear clothes until they come out of the incubator. If they do wear clothes in the incubator it is a hat, booties, and a simple t-shirt. nothing that will get in the way of the medical equipment that will be attached to the baby. After my last baby was born at a hefty 5lb 11 oz I deleated all my links to preemie pattern sites. There are many out there and the patterns are free for charity or personal use. Try clicking this: http://www.google.com/search?sourceid=navclient&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&q=free+preemie+sewing+patterns Gina
Pictures of my successes and failures Pfaff 2040 Janome Mylock 134D Singer Futura CE-100 w/ Autopunch Husqvarna Viking 3D Sketch |
User: Pudge99
Member since: 10-30-2001 Total posts: 1375 |
From: Magot
Date: 02-09-2004, 02:14 PM (7 of 22)
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Colleen, it's amazing just how much they can put on in only a few days - is your daughter having the usual Braxton Hicks contractons every 20 mins or so? This is normal at this stage in the pregnancy and does not indicate labour is iminant - I imagine it is the blood pressure he is most concerned about. Keep her flat on her back and relaxed! I was 4lb 9oz and breech - my Mum said I'd never recovered from this stubborn streak ever since! Back then ( late 50's) prem clothes were unheard of and she used to dress me in dolls clothes and bath me in the pudding basin! love and kisses, Jan
Guts-R-Us Cells a Speciality DNA to order. |
User: Magot
Member since: 12-22-2002 Total posts: 3626
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From: MaryW
Date: 02-09-2004, 05:56 PM (8 of 22)
LOL, Magot, your mother had you pegged right off the bat. 
MaryW
owner/editor of Sew Whats New |
User: MaryW
Member since: 06-23-2005 Total posts: 2542
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From: Magot
Date: 02-10-2004, 05:26 AM (9 of 22)
You KNEW my Mother!!!!! cheek!
love and kisses, Jan
Guts-R-Us Cells a Speciality DNA to order. |
User: Magot
Member since: 12-22-2002 Total posts: 3626
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From: ColleenS
Date: 02-10-2004, 07:39 PM (10 of 22)
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I was breech! I was a pain in my poor mother's butt from day one. LOL! Both of my kids were breech.So far my daughter's baby is breech also! She is in hospital flat on her back and has been for the past 12 days. She will not be allowed to go into full labor plus with her blood pressure as it is it isn't safe. The doctor's think she can continue with the pregnancy for a another week or 2. They put sleepers and gowns on the babies after they get out of the isolette here. Until then they dress them in bonnets, booties, diapers, and onsies. The sleepers and gowns have to have snaps on the outside of the sleeves and also the crotch area and up the front to accommodate the tubes and wires they are still hooked up to. I took a regular sleeper pattern I found for a bigger baby that had snaps in the crotch and up the front and had it made smaller at the copy shop so that problem is taken care of. I used the downloaded pattern for sleepers as a guide for size. You ladies are great! I have found that life is tough but I'm tougher!
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User: ColleenS
Member since: 01-31-2004 Total posts: 8
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From: Waterbaby
Date: 02-25-2004, 10:02 AM (11 of 22)
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I hope all is going well with your grandbaby. Here is a site to download a pattern. http://www.sewyoungsewfun.com/stitches/preemie/premgown.pdf[URL] Keeping a good thought for you all, Denise |
User: Waterbaby
Member since: 02-18-2004 Total posts: 2 
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From: ColleenS
Date: 02-26-2004, 04:05 AM (12 of 22)
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Lily Catherine Isobel arrived Feb. 15, 2004 at 2:35 am by c-section. She weighed in at 2# 6 oz and 15 inches long. She is now 2# 14 oz and is 15 1/4 inches long! She is such a precious little girl and a real fighter. She is off all respiration assistance and has a small feeding tube down her throat and an IV. She is in a isolette to help maintain her temperature but she is astonishing everyone with her progress. Thank you all for all your help in finding patterns to sew little clothes for her. They have become so useful and many we will leave there for other moms to use. Here's a link to some pictures of her at my web page! Lily (http://www.epilepsyfoundation.org/eCommunities/heroes/loader.cfm?url=/eCommunities/heroes/index.cfm&user_id=43) I have found that life is tough but I'm tougher!
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User: ColleenS
Member since: 01-31-2004 Total posts: 8
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From: Magot
Date: 02-26-2004, 04:21 AM (13 of 22)
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Colleen, she is gorgeous, congratulations!
love and kisses, Jan
Guts-R-Us Cells a Speciality DNA to order. |
User: Magot
Member since: 12-22-2002 Total posts: 3626
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From: MaryW
Date: 02-26-2004, 05:05 AM (14 of 22)
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She's beautiful Colleen, and such a nice name.
MaryW
owner/editor of Sew Whats New |
User: MaryW
Member since: 06-23-2005 Total posts: 2542
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From: Pudge99
Date: 02-26-2004, 10:09 AM (15 of 22)
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Coleen, Lily's stay in the hospital is going to be no less than a very scary roller coaster ride. If your daughter is like me she will be so angry or scared one moment and the smiling with joy the next. She will need a lot of support. There is a great board that I used to visit full of preemie moms. There are also a lot of sites out there with success stories about preemies. If your daughter is interested I can look them up for her. Do you mind me asking what week she was born in? I have 4 preemies, 36 wks, 33wks, 27wks and 35wks. So my experience ranges from 4 1/2 months in the NICU with my 27wkr to 4 days with my 35wkr. Before you ask the question I am always asked when I say I have 4 preemies, I will answer it. My first one was chalked up to poor prenatal care as I was a teenager in denial and didn't get a doctor until my 3rd trimester. #2 was with a new Dr. and they didn't count the first as a preemie. I told them that I was on bedrest with the first and shouldn't I do the same this time. They said no go on with your regular life. Well he was born the next week. The doctors said it was a fluke and there should be no problems with having more. I lost my third baby at around 19 wks. New Dr. again and he said he had a procedure he could do to hold the baby in if we really wanted to try for another. So we said one more try and then we will adopt if it doesn't work. Well it worked well enough to get her to 27wks then we developed and infection and were going down hill quickly so they delivered her by emergency c-section. That was it no more for us right? At least that was what we said. Well being so busy taking care of our beautiful baby daughter we kind of forgot about each other until around her first birthday and that is how #4 came to be. They used the same procedure to hold him in and it worked combined with very boring bedrest. At 34 wks the doctor said take it easy but you can be up and around. They scheduled my c-section for 36 wks and I went into labor exactly one week before the scheduled date. Now at 15 months he still doesn't keep to schedules. I think it was just his nature to prove to the doctor that he could do it with out someone elses schedule  .Well anyway I am sure I have bored you all with my life history but it was fun writing it. Gina
Pictures of my successes and failures Pfaff 2040 Janome Mylock 134D Singer Futura CE-100 w/ Autopunch Husqvarna Viking 3D Sketch |
User: Pudge99
Member since: 10-30-2001 Total posts: 1375 |
From: ColleenS
Date: 02-26-2004, 12:43 PM (16 of 22)
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Thank you! She was born in her 32 week because of my daughter having PIH and a bleeding disorder she inherited from me. With the steroid injections my daughter got for 2 weeks the baby's lungs were well developed so it made it better. The fortunate thing is that my daughter is a RN in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit where little Lily is now a patient!! She has worked there for 5 years so knows what to expect. She is finding out how it is from the "other side of the sheets" so to speak, but she is so far doing well. I am so glad to hear that you have beaten the odds and had more babies despite the doctors telling you that it shouldn't happen. That's spunk! and strong babies. Thanks again! I have found that life is tough but I'm tougher!
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User: ColleenS
Member since: 01-31-2004 Total posts: 8
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From: ColleenS
Date: 02-29-2004, 08:21 PM (17 of 22)
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Pudge when I told my daughter about your 4 preemies she looked at me with eyes as big as silver dollars and turned pale! LOL! She thinks that you are one super brave and strong woman to go through that 4 times and still be sane. Lily is now only getting tube feedings when my daughter isn't there to breast feed. Her IV has been capped and she is basically wire free. They have upgraded her to a crib now and since she is gaining weight like a real trooper she may be home by this weekend! Tjhis past 2 weeks has just flown by and I am so glad everything has gone well.
I have found that life is tough but I'm tougher!
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User: ColleenS
Member since: 01-31-2004 Total posts: 8
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From: Pudge99
Date: 02-29-2004, 08:39 PM (18 of 22)
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Wow! Going home already! So how big is she now? If she is still under 5 lbs when she comes home Costco makes a great carbed for the little ones too small for normal carseats. That's what I used for my last 2 until they could move into a regular seat. Gina
Pictures of my successes and failures Pfaff 2040 Janome Mylock 134D Singer Futura CE-100 w/ Autopunch Husqvarna Viking 3D Sketch |
User: Pudge99
Member since: 10-30-2001 Total posts: 1375 |
From: ColleenS
Date: 03-01-2004, 04:02 PM (19 of 22)
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As of last night (Feb. 29,2004) she weighed 3 pounds 3 ounces! She is really a strong little girl. This hospital actually loans new parents car seats for these little preemies when they go home under 5 pounds. (My daughter says they are from Costco!) They even give clothes and other necessities to those who can't afford to buy the little things that a preemie needs. This is the hospital that other hospitals in this state send their high risk pregnant moms to for delivery so they have a specialized department for all of this. PLUS since my daughter works there when she isn't pregnant or a new mom, she has a little "inside" edge. LOL! I am getting them a bassinet from Babysrus that they will use until she gets bigger and can go into the regular crib. I'm so excited!! I have found that life is tough but I'm tougher!
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User: ColleenS
Member since: 01-31-2004 Total posts: 8
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From: mamahoogie
Date: 03-01-2004, 04:24 PM (20 of 22)
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Congratulations and I'm so glad to hear she is doing well. I am a mother of a preemie and it's more then a bit scary. My dtr was 4lb-13oz but her lungs were not developed and she had a heart murmer. She was in preemie ward for 5 weeks and it took her a year to catch up but then she was off and running. Your daughter and will need a lot of support and there may be some ups and downs but it sounds like Lily is a real little fighter like my Janette. By the way, the doctor who released my daughter had some very good advice for me and I would like to pass it on to you for your daughter. He told me to make sure I treated Janette the same as I did my other daughter...no babying her or letting her get away with things because she was born a preemie. He told me she will get bigger and stronger and will not have any physical limitations but if I treat her like a sick child she will be a spoiled brat and an emotional cripple. I followed his advice and Janette was a happy, well-adjusted, much loved by everyone little girl, and now a grown woman. Violet 
I've decided to live forever - so far, so good.
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User: mamahoogie
Member since: 12-25-2002 Total posts: 461 |
From: ColleenS
Date: 03-01-2004, 04:46 PM (21 of 22)
Thank you for that advise, Violet. I am going to have my daughter come and read all these responses so she can hear from other moms with preemie babies. I think my son-in-law may be the one who has to be puunded over the head with the fact that she is not a cripple or a special needs child. He is so extremely protective of her that he won't even allow a male pediatritian!  Hopefully this will calm down with time....
I have found that life is tough but I'm tougher!
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User: ColleenS
Member since: 01-31-2004 Total posts: 8
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From: Pudge99
Date: 03-01-2004, 07:59 PM (22 of 22)
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Ditto on the treat them like a regular kid thing. My cousin had a preemie and they treated her like she was a princess, waiting on her hand and foot. I have always wondered if some of her developmental delays were because she wasn't allowed to do things for herself. She is now becoming a teenager. I don't envy my cousin. With my 27wk preemie I was so afraid that she would have problems that I have been very aggresive in making sure she stays on track developmentally. Don't get me wrong, I don't compare her to other children. I work with her at the level she is at. Once I see that she has mastered something I jump on the next milestone and we work on that. It has worked well for us. Someone today asked how old she was and when I said almost 3 they were amazed at her vocaulary and sentence structure. We are very proud of all our children but sometimes I feel a little extra proud of my "little" girl because she works so hard. Well the kids are bugging me to play Uno, so I better go. Gina
Pictures of my successes and failures Pfaff 2040 Janome Mylock 134D Singer Futura CE-100 w/ Autopunch Husqvarna Viking 3D Sketch |
User: Pudge99
Member since: 10-30-2001 Total posts: 1375 |
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