All About APGAR Scores

If you've had a baby born prematurely or in the NICU, you still might not have heard of APGAR scores.  Medical personnel use theses scores, taken at 1 minute and 5 minutes after birth, to determine what next steps if any need to be taken to stabilize a newborn. My wife was a NICU nurse and so she is very familiar with the scoring system and, in fact, it was one of the first things she wanted me to find out from our son's nurse.  You see, knowing these scores my wife, and medical staff, would know his health at birth (and due to the fact that my son had problems breathing when he was born, my wife was very interesting in his scores).

What is an APGAR score?

Reflections of a Preemie Dad

 
Note: This is a guest post written by Brian Wagnon (@isaacsdaddy on Tiwtter) - preemie dad and co-founder of Northeastern Oklahoma Parents of Preemies.  Thanks so much Brian for letting us post this great piece.  If you are a preemie dad, I'm sure many of the thoughts and feelings expressed will be familiar to you!

Why Did This Happen To Us?

When my wife got so sick with pre-eclampsia and ultimately ended up having a c-section at 30 weeks, this question kept coming up. Why did this happen to us? At the time I didn't know how close I had come to losing my wife, but in hindsight it is scary to think about. Not to mention looking at my son for the first time with all the equipment they had him hooked up to and him being only half as big as any other baby I had ever personally seen. When I came out of the NICU for the first time our relatives couldn't tell what had happened because I had this look on my face of complete and utter shock. It all happened so fast. One day we were wondering when we would get to go home from my wife's latest blood pressure scare and the next we had a preemie. Many times I just wondered why.

My New Preemie

If you follow me on Twitter (@PreemieDads), you already know that my 2nd preemie was born yesterday.  He was 5lbs 15oz, but almost 20 inches long!  He is in the NICU learning how to breathe air, but it otherwise healthy.  I will provide a more thorough update later, but, as they say, a picture is worth a thousand words...

The Story of Our First Preemie

Note: This post was originally published on Better Husbands and Fathers blog for Prematurity Awareness Day (11/17/2010)

Our son was born at 30 weeks in May of 2008, here is his story...

The Complications
During my wife's first ultrasound, she was diagnosed with a bicornuate uterus . At the that time we were warned of the potential complications, even the increased risk of pre-term labor and delivery (though her doctor was very optimistic).