Author: smnell
Posted: Mon Aug 08, 2011 6:03 pm
I did have a baby while on about 8 of Subutex that was held for 21 days in the special care nursery. This was the first Subutex baby delivered at the hospital. I was told before hand that they would want the baby to stay for 5 for observation. Right after delivery he was taken to the special care nursery. Their was a small patient lounge in their that they cleared out and made that his room. They wanted to keep him in an area that was quiet and dark. The first couple days were very scary and sad. They really didn’t want any one to touch him or hold him. His NAS symptoms were he startled easily and had a little tremor. He also wasn’t digesting his milk. He was put on an IV for fluids for the first 3 or 4 days. On day 3 he started crying in the middle of the night. The nursing staff wanted to start him on morphine. The Dr. didn’t. The down side to the hospital we were at was the Dr. switched every 2 or 3 days. As soon as the Original Dr. was off call and a new doctor started my baby on morphine. My first child that I wasn’t on anything with cried for months after she was born. The only time my son cried was after feedings. He also was hooked up to a monitoring system witch limited my ability to walk him around. It seemed that one Dr. after another would just pass on the same orders. Finally after 10 days we got a Dr. to make a plan to get our baby out. He made a plan to taper the morphine off a mg a day. But we ran in to obstacles with the nursing staff. The orders for morphine were X amount every 6 to 8 hours PRN. Well I use to be a RN and PRN is as needed. The nurses would give the morphine wether he needed it or not after the 8 hours. It seemed like we were in a constant battle. The doctors didn’t believe me when I told them that the baby was getting morphine when he didn’t need the morphine. Finally I got one to believe me when I told him that the nurse gave it to him while he was sleeping. The only sign of "NAS" he had was he cried after he ate and that was the only time he cried. They would hear him cry and they would come running with a needle. Our last 4 or 5 days their things started improving. We had a few great Doctors and Nurses on at all times. Some of the nurses were great, but others were very eager to give him the morphine. Finally we had another doctor on and I told her about his crying and she diagnosed him with GERD. After a few days of the medication for that he was great. After 21 days we were able to bring our son home. Every one told me that he was going to be so crabby, crying, and fussy. He was the Best baby I ever had. Once we were home he never made a another peep. We were lucky because they let me stay at the hospital. I stayed in a patients room and the baby stayed in nursery. I stayed with the baby all day until night time. I had them call me when he woke up and I went down to do the feedings. Being postpartum it did make it a very scary time. I was emotional. But everything worked out for the best.
Besides my husband, my parents, and my sister no one new about me being on suboxone prior to our baby being born. Fortunately every one was very supportive.
I did have a second baby on subutex. I was on 4 mg a day. I had tried very hard to get off of it before he was born. A week before he was born I quit taking it. On day 3 I did take 2 mg and day 4 I took 2 mg. I had nothing 3 days before he was born. We were at a different hospital this time. Because I had quit taking a few days before the hospital didn’t have it in my chart. That day they were also switching over to electronic charting so every thing was new to the staff. The babies doctor never mentioned anything. We brought him home after 2 days. He was a little fussy, but NOT NEARLY as bad as my first child whom I had never even taken a tylenol with. I did keep a very close eye on him for symptoms of NAS. He did have a little tremor I thought. We kept him swaddled good and tried keeping the environment quiet and calm. But after 4 or 5 days that went away.
I hope every thing turns out for the best for you. If your baby is kept, try to stay involved in his care, ask questions, and voice your concerns.
