When does baby usually get to come home?

[jean]

A lot of you posted that your hospital lets babies go home about 1 week before their due date. (My NICU nurses told me this as well)..but then I see a lot of ppl post that if they delivered around 35 weeks or so they were able to bring baby home.
Is it the norm to wait 1 wk before the dd only if babies were born before 35 weeks, or is this one of those variants that is just different from hospital to hospital?

[aajatwins]

I'm pretty sure it varies. I'm also pretty sure that doctors and nurses *have* to tell you that your baby will have to remain in NICU until the due date if they are born before that. That's what everyone told me about my twin boys when they scolded me about wanting to have them "early". It truly depends on the baby's development and progress. Because one of mine didn't need any medical intervention or bili lights or help feeding, he didn't need to be admitted to NICU at all. The other was only breathing fast, so because of his feeding tube (in nose & then in mouth - instead of bottle feeding), he had to be there 4 days. But we certainly were not there until the due date. 4 days max.

I have heard some NICUs have a weight limit - like if baby is over 5lbs, they're good to go unless other problems exist. But clearly they send home perfectly healthy teeny babies that are 3lbs + home if there are no other problems. SO... all that to say that it must truly vary case-by-case.

[aundapenner]

I think the 1 week before due date is a standard answer, based on the averages of how long babies remain.

When my niece was born 14 years ago, she had to meet certain criteria - she had to be at least 4 pounds, eating and breathing on her own while maintaining her body weight.

My son was born at the same hosipital, in the same NICU - he was born 1 week gestationally later than my niece (she was at 33 weeks and was in the NICU for 28 days, whereas my son was there just over one week) and had no breathing or temp issues, but had problems eating and struggled with jaundice.

There are no black and white answers - just experiences and averages based on those experiences.

((hugs))

[season]

For my preemie, born at 34 weeks. I was told that he could be in the hospital until his dues date, but what mattered most was not age but his ability to meet certain criteria ie, breath on his own, achieve certain min. weight, ability to eat by mouth, and maintain body temp.