Author: marie
Posted: Sat Jul 23, 2011 2:03 am
Cinnagirl,
Hi! Congrats on your upcoming arrival! When is your baby due? Is this your first? I apologize if you mentioned those things before…..I just don’t remember. I think you/your doctor are being wise to decide for you to remain on the Sub.
I don’t know if you read any of my posts from when I was pregnant (I gave birth to my son April 1st), but I was very nervous/scared just like you! Doing TONS of research, coming up w/a DETAILED birth plan with my O.B, and touring the hospital…..were just a few of the things I did, in which ALL really helped to ease mine/my husbands minds.
Also, if I were you……I’d bring as much information on Sub, Sub/pregnancy, Sub/surgery, as you can find. This is what I did, and boy did it come in handy. For instance, right before my (unplanned) c-section……I had a brief consultation w/my Anest. She had HEARD of Suboxone/Subutex…..BUT, HAD NO IDEA WHAT THEY WERE, OR WHICH MEDICATIONS INTERACT W/THEM NEGATIVELY.
So……I pulled out my trusty pack of papers, and had her read through them. Doing this not only benefited me as far as the surgery itself, but being an advocate for myself showed her/all the nurses and doctors how responsible I am, and just how serious I am about my recovery.
They ended up just stapeling that stack of paperwork on top of my chart……and then anytime doctors/nurses or hospital staff had a question where my Sub was involved…….they could simply refer to this information I brought. Cool, huh? BTW, my husband (whom really dosen’t even favor me being on Sub) was elated by how RESPONSIBLE I was in regards to educating others about Sub, and by me being an advocate for myself. And trust me, you’ll wanna do this….BE AN ADVOCATE FOR YOURSELF, because MANY healthcare professionals have very limited or no understanding of Sub.
My son was given to me about 15min after they finished closing me up. I began nursing IMMEDIATELY after they gave him to me……and NO-ONE gave me problems about this. And, my baby stayed in my room the entire hospital stay. They would take him to the nursery periodically to do the normal baby-checking stuff, and then bring him right back. Make sure you tell them this is what you want (if in fact you do).
My son showed no signs of NAS……until the day we were to go home. And honestly, Im NOT EVEN SURE that it was withdrawl. EVERY Pediatrician said he was fine. It wasn’t until ONE SINGLE NURSE, a new nurse, who’d JUST come on shift……and didn’t know us, she hadn’t been around us all wknd like the other nurses. AND, my milk hadn’t come in yet…..so my son was becoming agitated from being hungry and from my colostrum NOT satisfying him. Anyways, because of ONE nurse’s opinion……the on-call Ped. recommended that we stay until that evening, so that NAS testing could be done.
Listen, IF this happens to you/your baby…….tell them YOU WANT TO BE PRESENT WHEN THEY DO THE SCORING. I believe the scale is 1-10, with 10 being the worst. At the hospital I delivered at, they start the babies on medication once they reach a SEVEN. My son was scored like 4 different times throughout that day/evening. The highest score he got was a 3……until this crabby nurse gave my son a mark for "snorting"! Even with that, he never scored any higher than a four.
Now, on the way home from the hospital, and ALL that night……my baby was in a TERRIBLE mood, inconsolible, HE CRIED ALOT THAT NIGHT! Though I DO believe he had VERY MILD NAS…..he was also (as I stated above) very hungry. THANK GOD, my milk came in……in the middle of the night, that night. When we brought our baby to the Ped’s office the next morning, he had gained like 6-7oz overnight!! And she said he looked fine, and she didn’t see any sign of withdrawl.
Ever since that first night, my baby has been super duper healthy and happy! In fact, he’s not even four months old, and he already weighs like 17lbs, wears 9-12month clothing, and has already CUT A TOOTH!!!
Im just sharing this with you to ease your mind a bit. I was on 16mg of Subutex almost my entire pregnancy. I took my last dose of Sub about 10hrs before my c-section, and then picked it right back up the morning after my delivery. My surgery went FINE, BTW. (And if you want details, you can PM me, or find my birth thread, so you know what meds I had)
Trust me……I UNDERSTAND I AM ONE OF THE VERY FORTUNATE MOTHERS, WHO’S BABY DID NOT SUFFER, OR HAVE TO BE PUT ON MEDICATION, AND IM SO VERY GREATFULL. Because it seems as though whether/not your baby has NAS….IS NOT always dependent upon how much Sub you took during pregnancy. There have been moms who were on waaay less Sub than I took, and they’re babies DID have NAS. And then, there have been mothers who’s daily dose was even higher than mine, and they’re babes DIDN’T have NAS…….SO, YOU JUST NEVER KNOW.
Ok, sorry I ended up writing a book here. I hope you enjoy the rest of your pregnancy. And I pray that you have a BEAUTIFUL BIRTHING EXPERIENCE!! Good Luck Cinnagirl!!!!!
