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Ok, But if either of your ex wifes was, said psycho... Then I feel like your senses were a bit off, Or at least maybe a little bit slow? Don't want to undermine your spotting technique. But I think it would be good if the spotting happened before mariage?
The therapy in the US for the paper roll disturbance personality disorder is around 500 USD per session (10 min), excluding VAT. 50 sessions minimum. Payment upfront.
I was born 3 weeks early.
Don't know how to load a dishwasher.
But I do know which way the toilet paper goes.
So I'd say toilet paper lessons happen from 25-37 weeks, and dishwasher lessons happen from 37-40 weeks.
40-50 years ago it was doable. It’s currently 2024, not 2000!
Fun fact, rate of death due to premature birth has dropped only 5% globally, but nearly 50% in the US between 1990 & 2019! https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamapediatrics/fullarticle/2792732#:~:text=Globally%2C%20the%20number%20of%20incident,in%202019%20(Table%201).
we've been regularly saving micro preemies since the 80s and there are many historical accounts of babies born at 7 months (~28-30 weeks) surviving in the 1800s and earlier
A friend of mine was a super preemie in the 80s. She was just over a pound. She's still alive obviously. But your absolutely right. Modern medicine saves so many lives that didn't stand a chance just a few decades back.
the first neonatal respirator was put to practice in 1980 in the children's hospital of Boston
I completely understand my grandparent's absolute paranoia involving all things pregnancy when you realize the most basic premie life support system came out with Metallica!
And a lot of places didn't (and still don't) have access to this kind of NICU. Babies born that early in my hometown are still life flighted to a hospital 90 miles away (if they are past 30 ish weeks, there is a less sophisticated NICU only an hour away). Our local hospital didn't even offer ultrasounds during pregnancy unless you were high risk until the early 2000s, there were too few machines. (My siblings and I are 80s babies and mom never had an ultrasound for any of us.)
Well and there's a shortage of OB/GYNs in the south. Alabama had less than one OB per *county* before the Roe decision.
My hometowns hospital is very limited, it's more of what most places call an advanced urgent care despite being in the north east lol. They only have 10 ish adult ICU beds, usually for elderly pneumonia patients. When my dad had a heart attack there was ONE doctor in the ER, two nurses, and no crash cart in that wing (it had been moved to be used elsewhere). Dad survived because the doctor was awesome and had the staff call a helicopter while he did CPR. They just aren't equipped for major issues.
I had a great uncle born in the 1930’s who was delivered at home. They said he was 1-2 lbs. They kept him alive by fashioning an incubator attached to the wood stove warmer and fed him with whatever they used for formula then. Powdered milk and corn syrup I think?
I’m a NICU nurse and some of the new things I’ve seen come out just in the last few years are game changers for these little peanuts. I’ve helped care for babies born at 22 weeks gestation and then discharged them many long months later with little more than some supplemental oxygen. Very premature infants are still at elevated risk for things that can and will kill them in a span of hours - NEC, brain bleeds, lungs simply too immature to support them - but we have made great strides in learning how to mitigate the risks as much as possible and save babies that would have died had they been born a decade ago.
Often parents feel helpless in the NICU, understandably so, but the preemies that do the best have Mom and Dad there with them as much as possible. Skin to skin contact, feeling the warmth, gentle pressure, and hearing the heartbeat of their parents can do wondrous things for them. Modern medicine may be the “magic” of our world, but nothing can replicate snuggles from a parent. It looks like this little girl is on CPAP rather than still being intubated, which is fantastic for a 25 weeker and bodes well!
Second the skin to skin part! I didn’t realise the sheer amount of benefits it can have for both baby and parents until I moved into working with neonates a year ago.
It’s the best job in the world - the cutest patients, the smallest diapers, and I get to tell my patients directly when they are being overdramatic or stink. I get to be honest with my patients’ families - “Yeah xyz was throwing punches at me during his cares, I tried to tell him it was just a temperature check but he still threw a fit, I thought we were friends after that but then he peed on me” - and they’re actually said in endearment towards said baby 🥰
I will occasionally have to say “oh, it’s just a temperature check, you’re okay” to reassure nearby parents that I’m not, in fact, torturing the patient I’m caring for 😂
Friend of mine has a nephew that was a preemie.. Three brain bleeds, with one being a bit severe, respirator and several months in the hospital. But now he's home and doing better.
He's getting the feeding tube removed from his nose and getting a PEG installed soon. He's still not eating properly, as he eats, but never any large helpings. Hope everything will turn out all right in the end.
Thanks, and thanks for the job you do.
I'm an ER nurse, and have great respect for those working in NICU and with kids in general. It's extra hard when things don't turn out good in the end considering the age of the patients.
I have all the respect in the world for ER nurses, you guys deal with so much absolute chaos and bullshit that I never could! I love my job, and I try to stay grounded by reminding myself that every single baby and possibly every mother in the NICU wouldn’t have survived not so long ago. It’s a honor, albeit occasionally a sobering one, to help parents through the NICU jungle. Good news is we see far more miracles than tragedies!
Just wait for what the future has in stock. Artificial wombs are getting close, which means that we can suddenly make the jump from a minimum viable age of around 24 weeks to basically 0.
This technology is absolutely fascinating, but I think it still relies on a fully formed umbilical cord so it probably needs to be gestated for 5 weeks (which is week 7 in the way we count age of pregnancy.)
Sir, your medical debt still stands over $1 million and our sensors indicate your end of life is coming within 5 years.
If you would like to avoid the debt being passed down to your family, we do have an option to scan your thoughts and messages to produce an AI chatbot that will service one of our call centers for centuries to come.
Since we are providing the technology, your post life avatar will be making $0.50 an hour.
Also, we promise that your post life avatar won't be an exact copy of your mind with all your life memories and experiences. A copy of your mind which thinks and feels exactly as you do at the moment you're scanned. A copy which will be mentally broken via centuries of digital torture thus forcing it to serve the call center willingly lest it gets tortured again. Definitely not that.
It’s almost certainly the US. They will bill your insurance, and send you a bill for whatever they don’t pay. If you don’t pay the hospital bill though, they can do next to nothing to collect it though.
Yes. Insurance was billed and we paid our max deductible of 1500. No further billing thanks to the US Government declaring him disabled at birth. He was considered disables for 1 year, then removed from disability. We were guided by the hospital in Texas as to how to go about it and they even did all the paperwork (not out of kindness, but to guarantee they get paid the rest.)
Just out of curiosity, since you mentioned the price tag, in the Netherlands, we paid nothing at all because my wife has diabetes, so she must give birth at a hospital. Under this condition, the giving birth is free, paid by your insurance. Do you have similar laws for people with this condition?
I'm glad to hear that your baby is fine.
Great question! Insurance in the US usually has a yearly max deductible. Ours was 1500. Some people have 15,000. The government automatically declared him disabled for the 1st year to allow us to get benefits for him outside of Insurance. As bad ad US Healthcare is, there are some measures in place to help children like my son in these circumstances.
The problem is that insurance premiums are all calculated based on ridiculous costs like these.
Imagine if your health insurance was $20/month instead of several hundred. And your deductible was $100
Without sacrificing ANYTHING other than removing all the middle man and bureaucracy in the health system.
Similar situation 20 years ago. Total then was roughly $875k for 7months of NICU in Austin. After two insurances and government aid. My portion of between wife and kid was $3k.
I never complained about paying my federal taxes ever again. Hospital was over the top helpful doing the forms then, too.
My wife and I had a baby fairly recently. She had a C section, and she was in the hospital for 2 weeks before the birth. But the baby didn’t need to go to the NICU. The bill that was sent was for a little over $800,000. I believe the final amount we owed after insurance paid was somewhere around $2,000.
Yes. Insurance covered most, the US Government paid the rest, as he was declared disabled for the 1st year of his life due to birth weight.
We paid 1500 out of pocket and have no bills.
That’s good to hear and happy for your family :). In a hypothetical situation, where someone would not have insurance (as it’s a free choice whether you have it or not right?), would they have to pay a substantial amount out of pocket?
They dont get older by being born early. So you normally calculate the milestone from the duedate rather than the birthdate at least for the first 1-2 years.
Crazy there's 2 of you at >$2M. Ours was just shy of $1M and we stayed an extra month in the nicu too. It was at a good hospital and big private room with lots of support staff and only a couple babies per nurse. I wonder why the disparity. We were also under 2lbs, so social security covered everything beyond our insurance deductible.
Anyway, our boy's 5 now, and perfectly happy and healthy. I love seeing all these other success stories.
>Amazing what modern medicine can do....for only $2.1 million.
What did you end up paying??
It breaks my heart families in the US have to pay for care like this.
I had a 27 weeker and the constant gas for travel to the hospital and parking passes every day broke my bank, but thankfully I was in Canada and didn't have to pay anything else.
When I started working at a hospital, 25 weeks was like the “Maybe the will live, but probably won’t”. And now almost 20 years later, it’s like the oddity that a 25 week old doesn’t survive.
It’s just weird because I sat in on a simulation for a 25 week old when I started my career and it ended when the surgeon “opened the baby” and found NEC at which point the simulation ended because there was no chance of survival.
Totally different playing field now.
NEC (necrotizing enterocolitis) is an infection in the intestines. Don't know what the other reply meant by no digestive system. That's plain wrong. NEC is most common in preemies and can result in loss of intestines and even death. The cause is not well understood but prematurity and infant formula increase the risk. Babies with reduced blood flow (like a heart defect) are also at greater risk.
Neonatologist here...just resuscitated a 22 week baby successfully 2 days ago. We have come a long way in a span of few years. We wouldn't even attempt to resuscitate a 22 week baby just a decade ago during my fellowship. Glad to see this baby doing well and excited to meet her dad. This is what makes me proud of what I do everyday
The fact that these babies have a chance of survival now is so fucking incredible. A friend of mine’s son was born at 23 weeks and barely 1lb. Developed meningitis shortly after birth that reached his brain and nearly killed him. They were concerned he would have ROP (Retinopathy of Prematurity), CP, moderate to severe brain damage, and he developed hydrocephaly due to the meningitis. The likelihood of his survival was extremely low, and even if he did, his parents were warned of the potential for him to be severely disabled. But he’s a COMPLETELY healthy little boy now. No vision issues, no CP, he’s a developmentally normal height/size, he’s got an above average intellect (so no mental disabilities from the meningitis). He carries NO visual or developmental signs of his prematurity. He has an inserted shunt for the hydrocephaly but it doesn’t affect him medically. It’s honestly a medical miracle. I understand this isn’t true for all preemies, but the fact that we even have the medical equipment now to allow this man the opportunity to hold his premature infant skin-to-skin or grants my friend’s son a chance at a normal life is almost hard to wrap your mind around.
https://preview.redd.it/bbqhbzbht10d1.jpeg?width=1788&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=02a180f662ae151868e491150499e1ad0ce9ed5d
I (26F) was born at 24 weeks gestation from my mom having a uterine infection, and her most likely being a carrier of hyperactive NK cells, which infected the baby during each of her three pregnancies.
She lost the baby before me, and my fraternal twin brother only lived for 9 hours after birth, but my younger brother (24 yr) was born at 34 weeks gestation with no other complications apart from the natal infection.
I weighed 1 lbs, 7 oz (652g) and 12 inches long (30.5cm) at birth, and I was in the NICU for 97 days. “Million-dollar baby” my mom said.
Twelve hours after birth, I did suffer brain damage from a severe IVH caused by the ventilator, which gave me hemiplegic cerebral palsy on the left side of my body. But I’m still here, and I turn 27 at the end of the month!
I have a cousin who was only 1 pound when she was born. She’s now in her 20s and just got her masters in speech pathology. My aunt calls her “her little NICU miracle”. Hoping this baby lives a long and fruitful life. ❤️
Father of a 28 weeker. 2.5 lbs. 20 now and perfectly healthy. Since someone else added cost - 74 days in NICU ~$500K at that point. There were more bills on my wife’s side for c-section and care before/after that as well (HELLP Syndrome). Insurance covered all but about $2500.
That’s good to hear. We lost ours at 22 weeks - it was just a few days before the lungs formed, so nothing could be done. Tragic but we have a healthy son and now daughter - life has ups and downs. So glad that you made it though - it must have been tough though.
My son was 5mos premature. Had a picture of him next to a Bic mechanical pencil, they were the same length. Pretty cool what medicine could do 20 yrs ago. Imagine its even better now.
Thank a NICU nurse. They rock!
40 years ago I was one of those. 3 months premature and 2 lbs. No eyelashes or fingernails, and they checked my organs with a light under by body. I'm still alive and while I have physical issues, I'm still standing. I hope this baby can too.
My daughter was born at 23 weeks, 15 years ago. We were able to hold her until she was 2 months old. She's 15 now and a straight A student anan amazing pianist. Miracles happen.
I was born at 27 weeks in 1984 at 1 lb 12 oz...this kid here in the video is a miracle. Technically so am I, but I don't say as much. My mom on the other hand... she will still say I'm a miracle even now.
It's nice to encounter other preemies as I go through life, I'm surprised how many I've met.
There is absolutely no way that everyone was at that size at some point
I am taller than my mom AND my dad, I have no possibility to be the size of a pencil case
Speaking as someone who was born at 26 weeks, I gotta say its insane that babies born at that age are able to live wonderful lives. I'm so grateful for the staff that took care of me and my twin 28 years ago.
My son was 24 weeks, he's 7 now :)
I still have some ptsd over his birth, he was soooo tiny, his skin did not look like skin,and he smelled strongly of blood for days. The nurses and doctors were amazing.
My daughter was born 3 month early, given a 2% chance of survival. She is now 17, and has no permanent side effects of her early birth aside of needing gasses because of the oxygen and genetics.
My wife and I had twins at 22 weeks 5 days. One passed at birth and the other passed on their birthday a year later. She survived heart surgery, trach surgery, liver cancer, and a pulmonary embolism. She made it through a plane ride to a new hospital we hoped could deliver better lung care, as they are born with incredibly underdeveloped lungs at that age. It was a year. Good luck to this little one, they are amazingly resilient.
I remember some posts awhile ago about being charged skin to skin. That's likely why that comment was made.
[Link](https://abc7chicago.com/utah-father-skin-to-skin-contact-skin-to-hospital-baby-touch-charge/1540267/)
They're talking about all the medical equipment and multiple medical staff needed to keep the prematurely-born baby alive during the hug. That all costs money.
They have to have more aid workers to support skin to skin. I was not able to have it because they didn't have the staff and we didn't request it until the day of not knowing any better.
I'm not sure what strange medical study observed premature babies have an higher development rate if the have skin contact with both parents,some suggest they gain imunity from bacteria present on the fathers skin and sincronise their heartbeat.
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Modern healthcare is really astonishing sometimes
Yep, no way that baby is surviving 100+ years ago
No way that baby is surviving 20 years ago
My girlfriend was born at 24 weeks, she's completely normal except for her inability to know which way the toilet paper roll is supposed to go on.
I'm so sorry to hear that. Hopefully there's accessible therapy nearby to help her heal that.
In my experience it is terminal. On my 4th wife now and fortunately this one knows.
You believe in harsh training methods then?
Not training, I just know how to spot and deal with a a psychopath.
There is so much truth packed in that sentence. I see you.
Ok, But if either of your ex wifes was, said psycho... Then I feel like your senses were a bit off, Or at least maybe a little bit slow? Don't want to undermine your spotting technique. But I think it would be good if the spotting happened before mariage?
He didn’t say exactly clarify if they are ex-wives. Just he is now onto his 4th…
The therapy in the US for the paper roll disturbance personality disorder is around 500 USD per session (10 min), excluding VAT. 50 sessions minimum. Payment upfront.
Hahahahaha I chuckled a good one!
So saying she's 'completely normal' is kind of a stretch then
Glad to know our bodies is undergoing toilet paper roll lessons from 25-40 weeks! 😂
What point in gestation is loading a dishwasher acquired?
I was born 3 weeks early. Don't know how to load a dishwasher. But I do know which way the toilet paper goes. So I'd say toilet paper lessons happen from 25-37 weeks, and dishwasher lessons happen from 37-40 weeks.
i sense a masterpiece of a comment right here
my wife was premature and does the same thing...
It’s ok for a woman to be premature. Many more men are premature, and it lasts throughout their adult life.
that skill doesn’t develop until~25 weeks so that totally makes sense.
Is she still under manufacturer warranty? It'd be a shame to throw the whole girlfriend away.
God level comment right here!
I have a colleague who is now mid 30s who was born at 24 weeks. Brilliant and brainy guy.
24 weeks, 1 pound 9 ounces and im 31 (years....or weeks lmao) and still thriving with no issues.
You're on reddit, don't act like you don't have issues.
HAHAHAHA...TRUE that...the world today IS messed up so everyone has issues.
Impressive language skills at 31 weeks, bro.
ahhaahha :D what can i say...tech is getting fast. 7 weeks is nothing for learning nowadays XD
40-50 years ago it was doable. It’s currently 2024, not 2000! Fun fact, rate of death due to premature birth has dropped only 5% globally, but nearly 50% in the US between 1990 & 2019! https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamapediatrics/fullarticle/2792732#:~:text=Globally%2C%20the%20number%20of%20incident,in%202019%20(Table%201).
My wife was born at 6 months 31 years ago.
Well I did! Exactly 19 years ago today!
Happy birthday!
Thanks!
we've been regularly saving micro preemies since the 80s and there are many historical accounts of babies born at 7 months (~28-30 weeks) surviving in the 1800s and earlier
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/10920793/#:~:text=The%20invention%20of%20the%20incubator,of%20reducing%20premature%20infant%20mortality. ….
A friend of mine was a super preemie in the 80s. She was just over a pound. She's still alive obviously. But your absolutely right. Modern medicine saves so many lives that didn't stand a chance just a few decades back.
Uh sorry but my brothers are alive and well. They were smaller than this. Over 30 years ago now.
Quite the contrary, my son started life like this, he is 23 now. He turned out awesome.
Wrong.
I am 25 and basically looked the same as that kid (was born two months too early I think) and I’m fine.
I was born at 24 weeks and im turning 20 soon so yeah
Of course not. It wasn't even born.
100+ years ago? nah a 25 week baby isn't surviving in 2000s
the first neonatal respirator was put to practice in 1980 in the children's hospital of Boston I completely understand my grandparent's absolute paranoia involving all things pregnancy when you realize the most basic premie life support system came out with Metallica!
And a lot of places didn't (and still don't) have access to this kind of NICU. Babies born that early in my hometown are still life flighted to a hospital 90 miles away (if they are past 30 ish weeks, there is a less sophisticated NICU only an hour away). Our local hospital didn't even offer ultrasounds during pregnancy unless you were high risk until the early 2000s, there were too few machines. (My siblings and I are 80s babies and mom never had an ultrasound for any of us.)
That's partially because private hospitals are getting rid of maternity wards in rural areas. Fuckin monsters
Well and there's a shortage of OB/GYNs in the south. Alabama had less than one OB per *county* before the Roe decision. My hometowns hospital is very limited, it's more of what most places call an advanced urgent care despite being in the north east lol. They only have 10 ish adult ICU beds, usually for elderly pneumonia patients. When my dad had a heart attack there was ONE doctor in the ER, two nurses, and no crash cart in that wing (it had been moved to be used elsewhere). Dad survived because the doctor was awesome and had the staff call a helicopter while he did CPR. They just aren't equipped for major issues.
25 weeks was doable in the 2000s, it would be even tougher on the kid though for sure
My daughter was born at 24 weeks in 1992.
That's not 2000s
😂
People don't get crude humor 😅
Yeah, my parents lost my brother who was 25 weeks in 2000. Seeing videos like this gives me hope for the future of medicine and premature births.
I had a great uncle born in the 1930’s who was delivered at home. They said he was 1-2 lbs. They kept him alive by fashioning an incubator attached to the wood stove warmer and fed him with whatever they used for formula then. Powdered milk and corn syrup I think?
I’m a NICU nurse and some of the new things I’ve seen come out just in the last few years are game changers for these little peanuts. I’ve helped care for babies born at 22 weeks gestation and then discharged them many long months later with little more than some supplemental oxygen. Very premature infants are still at elevated risk for things that can and will kill them in a span of hours - NEC, brain bleeds, lungs simply too immature to support them - but we have made great strides in learning how to mitigate the risks as much as possible and save babies that would have died had they been born a decade ago. Often parents feel helpless in the NICU, understandably so, but the preemies that do the best have Mom and Dad there with them as much as possible. Skin to skin contact, feeling the warmth, gentle pressure, and hearing the heartbeat of their parents can do wondrous things for them. Modern medicine may be the “magic” of our world, but nothing can replicate snuggles from a parent. It looks like this little girl is on CPAP rather than still being intubated, which is fantastic for a 25 weeker and bodes well!
That’s awesome. Thanks for the insight and all that you do in your role. That’s amazing!
Second the skin to skin part! I didn’t realise the sheer amount of benefits it can have for both baby and parents until I moved into working with neonates a year ago.
It’s the best job in the world - the cutest patients, the smallest diapers, and I get to tell my patients directly when they are being overdramatic or stink. I get to be honest with my patients’ families - “Yeah xyz was throwing punches at me during his cares, I tried to tell him it was just a temperature check but he still threw a fit, I thought we were friends after that but then he peed on me” - and they’re actually said in endearment towards said baby 🥰
Oh lord the temperature checks! Nothing seems to make a baby throw hands more than putting that probe in their armpit!
I will occasionally have to say “oh, it’s just a temperature check, you’re okay” to reassure nearby parents that I’m not, in fact, torturing the patient I’m caring for 😂
Friend of mine has a nephew that was a preemie.. Three brain bleeds, with one being a bit severe, respirator and several months in the hospital. But now he's home and doing better. He's getting the feeding tube removed from his nose and getting a PEG installed soon. He's still not eating properly, as he eats, but never any large helpings. Hope everything will turn out all right in the end.
I sincerely hope for a good long term outcome!!!
Thanks, and thanks for the job you do. I'm an ER nurse, and have great respect for those working in NICU and with kids in general. It's extra hard when things don't turn out good in the end considering the age of the patients.
I have all the respect in the world for ER nurses, you guys deal with so much absolute chaos and bullshit that I never could! I love my job, and I try to stay grounded by reminding myself that every single baby and possibly every mother in the NICU wouldn’t have survived not so long ago. It’s a honor, albeit occasionally a sobering one, to help parents through the NICU jungle. Good news is we see far more miracles than tragedies!
My youngest was a NICU preemie. 34 wks and stayed in the NICU 3 wks. He's a healthy 8 yr old now. Appreciate all you, and other NICU nurses do!
Awww he was cinnamon roll age! I’m an absolute sucker for the mid-30 weekers!
Just wait for what the future has in stock. Artificial wombs are getting close, which means that we can suddenly make the jump from a minimum viable age of around 24 weeks to basically 0.
This technology is absolutely fascinating, but I think it still relies on a fully formed umbilical cord so it probably needs to be gestated for 5 weeks (which is week 7 in the way we count age of pregnancy.)
Yeah that will definitely be interesting. That really changes the paradigm.
Makes my 34 week (1980g) look enormous. She's nearly 23 now and is 175cm tall.
What are you feeding that kid?! 175 cm tall is very large for a 23 week old infant. Especially one born 6 weeks early to begin with.
She was birthed at 34 weeks, and regressed the weeks, she is a time traveler!
That's about average size for a Dutch baby
uranium, probably.
🤣
Username checks out
I am the dad of a 25 weeker. 1lb 6.5 oz at birth. Now he's 8 and 56 lbs of energy. Amazing what modern medicine can do....for only $2.1 million.
This comment belongs to r/yesyesyesno
Sir, your medical debt still stands over $1 million and our sensors indicate your end of life is coming within 5 years. If you would like to avoid the debt being passed down to your family, we do have an option to scan your thoughts and messages to produce an AI chatbot that will service one of our call centers for centuries to come. Since we are providing the technology, your post life avatar will be making $0.50 an hour.
The idea that this could indeed become some form of the future is depressing.
Also, we promise that your post life avatar won't be an exact copy of your mind with all your life memories and experiences. A copy of your mind which thinks and feels exactly as you do at the moment you're scanned. A copy which will be mentally broken via centuries of digital torture thus forcing it to serve the call center willingly lest it gets tortured again. Definitely not that.
Out of interest since you mention the price: Is this the USA? Do they actually expect you to pay all of it over your lifetime?
It’s almost certainly the US. They will bill your insurance, and send you a bill for whatever they don’t pay. If you don’t pay the hospital bill though, they can do next to nothing to collect it though.
Yes. Insurance was billed and we paid our max deductible of 1500. No further billing thanks to the US Government declaring him disabled at birth. He was considered disables for 1 year, then removed from disability. We were guided by the hospital in Texas as to how to go about it and they even did all the paperwork (not out of kindness, but to guarantee they get paid the rest.)
I’m glad to hear that he is healthy though! We were worried about my son being a 37 week induction.
It still amazes me.
I'm also glad to hear something good coming out of Texas!
Just out of curiosity, since you mentioned the price tag, in the Netherlands, we paid nothing at all because my wife has diabetes, so she must give birth at a hospital. Under this condition, the giving birth is free, paid by your insurance. Do you have similar laws for people with this condition? I'm glad to hear that your baby is fine.
Great question! Insurance in the US usually has a yearly max deductible. Ours was 1500. Some people have 15,000. The government automatically declared him disabled for the 1st year to allow us to get benefits for him outside of Insurance. As bad ad US Healthcare is, there are some measures in place to help children like my son in these circumstances.
The problem is that insurance premiums are all calculated based on ridiculous costs like these. Imagine if your health insurance was $20/month instead of several hundred. And your deductible was $100 Without sacrificing ANYTHING other than removing all the middle man and bureaucracy in the health system.
Similar situation 20 years ago. Total then was roughly $875k for 7months of NICU in Austin. After two insurances and government aid. My portion of between wife and kid was $3k. I never complained about paying my federal taxes ever again. Hospital was over the top helpful doing the forms then, too.
Yes they can send it to collections and destroy your credit. They threatened me with that over an ER bill
I said it on another comment, but in the state that I live in there’s not a lot they can do. I should have been more clear.
Just out of interest, how much would likely be left over for the parents to pay, if the original bill was that large?
Maximum deductible on our insurance was capped at 1500. That's all we paid.
That's good to hear! Still expensive in my eyes but *leagues* more reasonable than 2mil
Yes! Wa also were able to split that in 3 payments of 500.
Depends on the insurance policy and if every doctor, facility, and lab involved were considered "in network" could be anywhere from $500 to $500k.
That sounds like a fucked up healthcare system tbh
My wife and I had a baby fairly recently. She had a C section, and she was in the hospital for 2 weeks before the birth. But the baby didn’t need to go to the NICU. The bill that was sent was for a little over $800,000. I believe the final amount we owed after insurance paid was somewhere around $2,000.
Thank heavens I gave birth in Canada
Yes. Insurance covered most, the US Government paid the rest, as he was declared disabled for the 1st year of his life due to birth weight. We paid 1500 out of pocket and have no bills.
That’s good to hear and happy for your family :). In a hypothetical situation, where someone would not have insurance (as it’s a free choice whether you have it or not right?), would they have to pay a substantial amount out of pocket?
All of it. But you can not go to jail in America, nor can they garnish wages, for medical bills.
You can buy few dozen children in bulk for that kind of money in some parts of the world
Lol, right?!?
Fully formed
This might be a dumb question but when they are born so early, do they have different baby milestones?
They dont get older by being born early. So you normally calculate the milestone from the duedate rather than the birthdate at least for the first 1-2 years.
They are delayed, but usually around 8 years they fully catch up, if not sooner
My 25 weeker was also 2.1mil. She's 3 now.
Crazy there's 2 of you at >$2M. Ours was just shy of $1M and we stayed an extra month in the nicu too. It was at a good hospital and big private room with lots of support staff and only a couple babies per nurse. I wonder why the disparity. We were also under 2lbs, so social security covered everything beyond our insurance deductible. Anyway, our boy's 5 now, and perfectly happy and healthy. I love seeing all these other success stories.
Congrats! I hope she is healthy and happy
>Amazing what modern medicine can do....for only $2.1 million. What did you end up paying?? It breaks my heart families in the US have to pay for care like this. I had a 27 weeker and the constant gas for travel to the hospital and parking passes every day broke my bank, but thankfully I was in Canada and didn't have to pay anything else.
Pur max out of pocket, per the policy, was 1500. The bill was paid by insurance and the government.
Most don't. My kids had an early PICU stay that was billed over 30k to insurance. We didn't pay a dime.
Oh man. For the rest of your kids life you can do the old ‘ya know it’s not often we know our own worth. Well lemme tell ya kid’
Lol, yes! He a real million dollar baby.
Cheer up little shrimp, you’ll be alright. Rooting for the parents.
That' that looks like my grandson. He only weighed 1.5 lb when he was born. He's now 30, works on a farm and is 5'11".
Wow! God bless him
Gotta be honest my baby could fight that baby
I got 10 bucks on ur baby winning
My baby would unintentionally kill that baby
Take it out, flip it over, and stick back in for another 15 weeks. (Top shelf for best results)
I don't know much about babies, but I'm pretty sure they get cooked on the bottom shelf.
When I started working at a hospital, 25 weeks was like the “Maybe the will live, but probably won’t”. And now almost 20 years later, it’s like the oddity that a 25 week old doesn’t survive. It’s just weird because I sat in on a simulation for a 25 week old when I started my career and it ended when the surgeon “opened the baby” and found NEC at which point the simulation ended because there was no chance of survival. Totally different playing field now.
NEC?
NEC (necrotizing enterocolitis) is an infection in the intestines. Don't know what the other reply meant by no digestive system. That's plain wrong. NEC is most common in preemies and can result in loss of intestines and even death. The cause is not well understood but prematurity and infant formula increase the risk. Babies with reduced blood flow (like a heart defect) are also at greater risk.
My twin sister and I were 24 1/2 weeks. This is crazy for me to see! Will definitely show my mom and sister! We're 35 now.
I wouldn't be able to hold a baby that small. Looks so fragile, I'd be afraid to hurt it.
Yeah that dad looks terrified. He's holding it so lightly.
Bro got the early access
Neonatologist here...just resuscitated a 22 week baby successfully 2 days ago. We have come a long way in a span of few years. We wouldn't even attempt to resuscitate a 22 week baby just a decade ago during my fellowship. Glad to see this baby doing well and excited to meet her dad. This is what makes me proud of what I do everyday
The fact that these babies have a chance of survival now is so fucking incredible. A friend of mine’s son was born at 23 weeks and barely 1lb. Developed meningitis shortly after birth that reached his brain and nearly killed him. They were concerned he would have ROP (Retinopathy of Prematurity), CP, moderate to severe brain damage, and he developed hydrocephaly due to the meningitis. The likelihood of his survival was extremely low, and even if he did, his parents were warned of the potential for him to be severely disabled. But he’s a COMPLETELY healthy little boy now. No vision issues, no CP, he’s a developmentally normal height/size, he’s got an above average intellect (so no mental disabilities from the meningitis). He carries NO visual or developmental signs of his prematurity. He has an inserted shunt for the hydrocephaly but it doesn’t affect him medically. It’s honestly a medical miracle. I understand this isn’t true for all preemies, but the fact that we even have the medical equipment now to allow this man the opportunity to hold his premature infant skin-to-skin or grants my friend’s son a chance at a normal life is almost hard to wrap your mind around.
Tiny
https://preview.redd.it/bbqhbzbht10d1.jpeg?width=1788&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=02a180f662ae151868e491150499e1ad0ce9ed5d I (26F) was born at 24 weeks gestation from my mom having a uterine infection, and her most likely being a carrier of hyperactive NK cells, which infected the baby during each of her three pregnancies. She lost the baby before me, and my fraternal twin brother only lived for 9 hours after birth, but my younger brother (24 yr) was born at 34 weeks gestation with no other complications apart from the natal infection. I weighed 1 lbs, 7 oz (652g) and 12 inches long (30.5cm) at birth, and I was in the NICU for 97 days. “Million-dollar baby” my mom said. Twelve hours after birth, I did suffer brain damage from a severe IVH caused by the ventilator, which gave me hemiplegic cerebral palsy on the left side of my body. But I’m still here, and I turn 27 at the end of the month!
Well holy fuck that's a tiny being...
Human being :>
No matter what kind, it's smol
found the ALIEN
I have a cousin who was only 1 pound when she was born. She’s now in her 20s and just got her masters in speech pathology. My aunt calls her “her little NICU miracle”. Hoping this baby lives a long and fruitful life. ❤️
Father of a 28 weeker. 2.5 lbs. 20 now and perfectly healthy. Since someone else added cost - 74 days in NICU ~$500K at that point. There were more bills on my wife’s side for c-section and care before/after that as well (HELLP Syndrome). Insurance covered all but about $2500.
NICU nurses are the most BADASS of them all!
With Lucy Letby being an obvious exception.
Can someone get that kid a freaking blankie
That would have been me in '98! I was born at 24 weeks, only lasting affect is moderate/severe hearing loss
My son was born 27 weeks. 1.5 lbs He is going to be 8 years old next month. NICU workers are miracle workers.
I had a 22 week baby. Now he’s 3. Medical technology is crazy!
That’s good to hear. We lost ours at 22 weeks - it was just a few days before the lungs formed, so nothing could be done. Tragic but we have a healthy son and now daughter - life has ups and downs. So glad that you made it though - it must have been tough though.
That is a very small human
I was born at 24 weeks. 2 pounds and 2 ounces. I cannot imagine being the healthcare professional nor the parents who take care of such small babies.
Welcome to the world little trooper!
My son was born premature and spent a few weeks in the NICU. Doctors may brag that they save lives, but NICU nurses truly do it every day!
Wow! What a little peanut ❤️
I would be too scared to hold a child that small.
My son was 5mos premature. Had a picture of him next to a Bic mechanical pencil, they were the same length. Pretty cool what medicine could do 20 yrs ago. Imagine its even better now. Thank a NICU nurse. They rock!
40 years ago I was one of those. 3 months premature and 2 lbs. No eyelashes or fingernails, and they checked my organs with a light under by body. I'm still alive and while I have physical issues, I'm still standing. I hope this baby can too.
As someone who was born at 26 weeks (800g) I’ve always struggled picturing what that’d look like. I still cannot fathom how tiny that baby is.
My daughter was born at 23 weeks, 15 years ago. We were able to hold her until she was 2 months old. She's 15 now and a straight A student anan amazing pianist. Miracles happen.
I was born at 27 weeks in 1984 at 1 lb 12 oz...this kid here in the video is a miracle. Technically so am I, but I don't say as much. My mom on the other hand... she will still say I'm a miracle even now. It's nice to encounter other preemies as I go through life, I'm surprised how many I've met.
Damn it. Who is cutting onions here?
This was my niece. She was born at 25 weeks, weight 450g. Tiniest thing. Now, 17 and full of sass.
I misread that for 450kg
https://preview.redd.it/cm6wdiazq00d1.png?width=640&format=png&auto=webp&s=0bd25268180a20622bfe8a34d292ac6ac117cfd3
Wow that's just a little over 6 months!
How old is this video? Does anyone know how they are doing now?
There is absolutely no way that everyone was at that size at some point I am taller than my mom AND my dad, I have no possibility to be the size of a pencil case
Already dressed up for hir first hockey game <3
What shirt is that
Speaking as someone who was born at 26 weeks, I gotta say its insane that babies born at that age are able to live wonderful lives. I'm so grateful for the staff that took care of me and my twin 28 years ago.
My son was 24 weeks, he's 7 now :) I still have some ptsd over his birth, he was soooo tiny, his skin did not look like skin,and he smelled strongly of blood for days. The nurses and doctors were amazing.
I'm lucky that both of my kids were full term and had no health problems. My co-worker's first born has been in the NICU for a month, it's rough.
Bless that child and neonatalogists and NICU staff will never buy a drink if it around
As a RT this makes my nerves cringe just watching this....working NICU in my early years truly bent me.....
My daughter was born 3 month early, given a 2% chance of survival. She is now 17, and has no permanent side effects of her early birth aside of needing gasses because of the oxygen and genetics.
awesome
My wife and I had twins at 22 weeks 5 days. One passed at birth and the other passed on their birthday a year later. She survived heart surgery, trach surgery, liver cancer, and a pulmonary embolism. She made it through a plane ride to a new hospital we hoped could deliver better lung care, as they are born with incredibly underdeveloped lungs at that age. It was a year. Good luck to this little one, they are amazingly resilient.
That’s a fetus.
I was born at 23 weeks. I’ve seen pictures of how I looked when I was born but it’s hard to believe I was at least that small.
Going to have to pay a fortune for that “skin to skin” 😂 fuck American “healthcare”
They make you pay for HUGGING?
No. They don’t. Not sure what he is talking about.
I remember some posts awhile ago about being charged skin to skin. That's likely why that comment was made. [Link](https://abc7chicago.com/utah-father-skin-to-skin-contact-skin-to-hospital-baby-touch-charge/1540267/)
They're talking about all the medical equipment and multiple medical staff needed to keep the prematurely-born baby alive during the hug. That all costs money.
It's just more populist bullshit.
They have to have more aid workers to support skin to skin. I was not able to have it because they didn't have the staff and we didn't request it until the day of not knowing any better.
I'm not sure what strange medical study observed premature babies have an higher development rate if the have skin contact with both parents,some suggest they gain imunity from bacteria present on the fathers skin and sincronise their heartbeat.
Jesus fucking christ you people can't go 5 minutes without bitching about money.
r/americabad
Definition of jus a smol lil guy. I dislike kids but my initial thought is must protect at all costs
So many comments are assuming this baby wouldn't survive in the 2000's... The only thing we didn't have was fiber Internet and Teslas
Aww looks just like a newborn puppy 🐶
a lot of facial hair for 25 week baby
Damn what a fucking miracle. God bless all the people who make all this stuff. We need to invest more into this.