due Oct 15 born Oct 3

[gramma103]

I'm wondering if there could be more to the fact that my newborn granddaughter does not want to "wake up".  She was born, naturally - a bit early @ 5lbs 110z.  She didn't let out the loud cry at birth, just a little one.  She doesn't want to wake up much. She was transfered to a NICU the day after she was born.  They keep telling us everything is fine.  Her heart, lungs, muscle tone, reflex, blood work,  etc - all great.  The NICU doc actually said, "you can't get much more perfect"!!  So why then?  Why won't she wake up and eat?  She can suck, sometimes she has eaten her whole bottle but not always.  So now they put in a feeding tube and if she doesn't finish her bottle they'll finish feeding  her via the tube.  I don't get why they say everything is fine, "the light will come on" for her, she just needs time....shouldn't they be doing more? ...brain scans, genetic testing...something else?... how can they seem so sure that everything is fine when to me, it seems it's not.  I know I'm not a doctor...but still - how long do we wait to see if she "gets the light on" before we do more testing?
thanks for your time!
worried gramma

[Yao Sun, MD, PhD]

Your granddaughter is approximately 38 weeks of gestational age according to your dating.  Many 38 week newborns can eat well, but some are still not quite developmentally mature and need to learn to eat.

The evaluation for possible underlying disorders depends upon the overall clinical scenario.  If your granddaughter has a normal clinical exam and otherwise normal clinical behavior, further testing is unlikely to yield anything.  If, however, the neonatologists note any abnormalities, or there is no improvement in feeding over time, then further testing may be indicated.

The parents should request a meeting with the neonatologist to discuss any concerns they may have about your granddaughter.  The neonatologist will explain their current findings and the rationale for the current treatment plan, as well as any future evaluations.

[Yao Sun, MD, PhD]

I'm glad that it sounds like your granddaughter is doing well.  I hope she gets to go home with her parents soon!

[gramma103]

Thank you Dr. Yao Sun,
Your response has eased some worry.  We talk to the neonatologist each day.  Everyday, he says the same thing, "she's fine - perfectly fine, absolutely nothing wrong with her at all, she just needs time to wake up to our world and start eating".
Of course that's what we want to hear!  but it's so difficult to believe that nothing is wrong when she won't wake up more and eat more.
Thanks again for your time, I think we're finally calming down and excepting that things are ok, she'll be fine and we just need to patient.