Anyone had a premmie ?

Thanks for sharing your story with us Dace and Welcome to BellyBelly.

Love

Wow Dace what a wonderful story. I understand on the being scared thing, James was my first & found the whole "not knowing" what was going on was the worst bit. So glad to hear that your son is doing well now. Wishing you & your family all the best for the future.

All the best Dace, it has to get better. Know that we are all thinking of you, and marvel in your braveness at such a difficult birth. All the best for your little man. May his life be blessed with health 8-[

My Mum had my sister 6 weeks premmie. Mum had just gone on maternity leave and my sister was born the next day. She had to stay in the neo natal ward in one of those humidicribs for about 2 weeks after being born. My sister came home from hospital on the day of my mums 21st birthday! What a nice pressie!! She was small at birth - 5 pound something, but it didnt affect her (no abnormalities or anything) as she has been totally healthy.

Hi my name is vivienne and I have had to babies in nicu. My first son was 6 weeks early. He was delivered naturally no problems a healthy 5lbs 13. Was in the for 10 days. Unfortunatly with my second son I wasn't as lucky. Bailey was 11 weeks early and only 2lbs 13 ounces. He was born in brisbane as where I live on the gold coast has no nicu. He spent 7 weeks in hospital. It is the most heartwrenching thing to happen, to have c-section and not be able to hold your baby for days afterwards. I hope that if I decide to have another this won't happen again.

Vivienneglen,
Thanx for sharing your story. Wow at your 2nd baby being only 2lb13, a full pound & 1 ounce lighter than my son who was born at 32 wks. I totally hear you on how frustrating it is to have had a baby & not be able to hold it & do whatever you want whenever you want. Makes you feel a bit like you haven't really got a baby at all. Good luck with number three if you guys decide to try again.

Hi Vivienneglen,

Wow at being early with both your children, have they looked into trying to find a reason why you aren't going full term with them ??

Love

It has been hard and a bit baffling but as they can see there is no problem don't kbow why my waters keep breaking, i ended up having emergency c-section with bailey as he was in danger of heart attack heart rate was 220 bpm.For how early he was born he was suprisingly well. Only 7 hours of oxygen. He has oesophagitis which is hard, really hurts him trying to manage as best as we can, some hearing loss, not too bad, other problems won't know till he progresses has small cyst in the brain too. Life is never easy with kids but they make it worthwhile his smile is amazing he is not really supposed to be doing most of what he is doing now still supposed to be a 6 week old but not him is actually a little advanced for 4 months. LOL thats my boys.

Hi Vivienne, and welcome to BellyBelly :wave:

Thanks for sharing your story with us... I can't even begin to imagine how hard that must have been for you to go through... But it is so wonderful to hear that both of your kids are doing well, especially little Bailey :)

Hey guys u can read my birth stories in birth stories, but both of mine were premmie, my first was born at 35wks and 5days and was very floppy, needed to be in SCU for the entire time i was in hospital, only aloud out for boob and a quick nappy cahnage and cuddle 1/2 hr at the most, then back under light and oxygen, she couldn't come hm b/c her sucking reflex hadnt come in and she'd have 2 sucks them pass out but she was a good weight 6lbs 13.5ozs and stayed in an extra 2 weeks, i was miserable and tired having to go in and feed every 3-4hrs, but was wrapped when she came home. Now my 2nd was born 35wks and 6days and what a differnence his sucking reflex was in although he was very floppy and tired, he was in SCU the whole time but got to come home. What a differnce 1 day can make.xx O:)
Ps welcome to BB Jo! O:)

Blake was born at 33weeks by emergency c/s due to severe p/e & IUGR. :( He weighed 1690gms (3lb 11ozs), 43cm long & spent 28 days in hospital. He came home weighing approx 2.2kgms & was b/f for 6months. He's now a healthy, cheeky, happy almost 6yr old. =D>

Fell pregnant & was stressed about things going wrong again. Had been having sharp pains on my left ovary side & the Dr thought I might have a cyst. Off for an u/s & their were 2 babies. Now you'd think I'd be over joyed at this news but we weren't. My SIL had lost fraternal boys at 29.4weeks & my DH & I were terrified. I didn't bond with them properly & my waters broke at 32.1weeks. I was flown to The Canberra Hospital where they tried to prevent my labour but the girls were eventually born after a 3 1/2hr labour without drugs. Haylee weighed 1510gms (3lb 5ozs) 41cm long & Tianna weighed 1985gms(4lb 6ozs) 44cm long. They spent 27 days in hospital. I b/f for 10 weeks. They had colic, reflux & cried & screamed for no reason. :( I got severe PND & am only now feeling back to my somewhat normal self.

Sorry to ramble but just wanted to tell about me & my experiences. :)

hi there jussy
just wanted to let you know that you are not alone, and please dont ever feel that you are. I have twins that were born at 31 weeks, so i sorta know a bit what you are going through.

It is hard enough having twins, let alone premmie twins. Sometimes i felt that people that had just one baby to look after didn't understand, and people that had full termers didn't realise how lucky they were.

my godsend was the local multiple birth assoiciation where I could talk, *****, while or vent with them who had premmies and twins. The only people I felt that i could relate to.
I used to take the kids to playgroup most weeks, even though they were still in the pram, and little babies - not for their sake, but for my sanity.

If you can't get out, forums like this are a help, or otherwise the new families contact in your multiple birth group may be able to hook you up with someone near who has been there and done that, or even with twins that are around the same age as your.

If you would like to email me, please feel free to odette_oz@yahoo.com.au
otherwise I will keep an eye out if you want to reply in the forum
take care of yourself. . . .
odette
mum to Ariel and Immogen
5/12/2002

Odette

Thanks for the reply. I live in a small town so don't have much support around. I must admit that them being 3 is alot easier than when they were newborns. I'm sure you understand what I mean. :)

We don't have a local AMBA but I've been in touch with some mums of multiples.

Forums have been a godsend too. :) I still find it hard to reply 'positively' to mums expecting twins. It's just upsetting for me, not a happy occasion at all.

Take care

My first premmie was Kimberley born in 2003 weighing 4lb 13oz born by emergency c/section due to me having pre-eclampsia she was born at 35wks 4dys.
My second was Alexander borm 11th May 2005 weighing 5lb 14oz born by emergency c/section again due to me having pre-eclampsia he was born at 36wks 6dys.

Hi there

I am new to this site. My name is Nichole, am 25, have been married for nearly 2 years. I had a c-section on 3.2.05 and my daughter Isabella was born, 9 wks premature. I developed pre-eclampsia and had extremely high blood pressure and was admitted to hospital. They only discovered this as I had a checkup at the hospital, so did not let me go home. The next day I found out my placenta was low lying so had to have her by c-section. I was in ICU ward for 3 days and maternity ward for 3 days then went home. Isabella was in hospital for 8 weeks which was very stressful for both of us, she had her ups and downs, each day was totally different. She had to have a blood transfusion whilst in the nursery, due to her red blood cell count being low. She also developed jaundice twice. But she overcame her problems and went home on 1.4.04. She is now a healthy bubbly baby and is growing heaps.
Parenting is getting easier, although it has its moments. Isabella usually sleeps between 5 and 7 hours during the night and other than that she feeds every 3 hours usually. She is our first bub and her entrance into the world was very surprising.

I am hoping to meet other mums of premature bubs, as well as mums of bubs born around April (as 9th April was her due date and bubs born in April will be similar to her in development)

Nichole

Hi Nichole,

My second born - Emily - surprised us by arriving at 27.5 weeks following Premature Rupture of Membranes (first born was full-term). Emily was born in March this year while her due date was estimated at June 10. She is still in Special Care while she strengthens her suck-feeding ability, and other than that is going really well. It is anticipated she will come home any day now!

Hi Nichole, just wanted to reassure you that premmie bubs do turn out to be thriving healthy little kids, i gave birth to triplets 27 weeks in jan 99 birth weights 785gms, 1120gms and 1310 all had setbacks and the usual roller coaster ride in NICU we spent 4 months in total and I never in my wildest dreams believed that they would grow up to be just like the other kids and suprise they are, one of the boys has some learning difficulties, but not obvious, i know it can be a really tough time and that unless you have been there you can not understand. now my kids are 6 and the nightmare has been put behind us and the are deffinately not affected in any way from their early start, i will be praying for you and you little bub.

firstly
congratulations Nichole and Berry on the birth's of your babies. One of the first things that I found that went out the window when my twins were born prem, was the fact that their birth is not a celebration nor happy event at first.
So YEAH!!! =D> Congratus!

I bet you are both counting down till they come home. You may be surprised how quick it all happens when they are ready. My twins got out of Isolette one day, off gavage and demand feeds next day, and home they next. So in three days, from no hope to outta here.

The only good thing i found about special care, was that by the time my babies were ready to come home, I was so much a professional at it. It was almost like i got eased into, rather than just given a baby and see you later.

Don't be afraid to ask any questions etc. someone here has always been through something similar and may be able to help or reassure you.

I believe that prem babies become the most determined, strong willed children and then adults. They have had to fight for every breath and that strong mindness carries on as a great strength for the rest of their lives.
keep strong and keep well. You babes will be home in your arms in no times
take care
odette
mum to 2 1/2 twins born 31 weeks
DS 10% chance of survival
DD 20% chance
fighting fit and no long term problems or repercussion
Miracles can and do happen!!!!!!!

hi

thanks for the encouragement. I am also a member of essential baby and all the other mums that had bubs in april, which was when isabella was supposed to have been born, well their bubs are like way huger than isabella. I originally thought isabella would be about the same size as them, thinking she might have caught up to them but not yet. My whole experience was awful. Here I was thinking I would have an average size bub and go full term but nope. I hadn't even heard of pre-eclampsia, i mean how many pregnant women really know what it is??

Well I have to say that the whole time I was in the ICU ward I was depressed.....I was on morphine and magnesium so I was totally out of it most of the time, and plus I could not even see my baby, it was like I had not even been pregnant or like someone had stolen her from me. She was only around the corner from me, in NICU yet I could not see her, and they only brought her to me once - in the humidicrib. But she couldnt come out for long as she needed to be warm and under the lights. She had all these tubes hanging off her - feeding tube, antibiotics and the other leads to monitor her heart rate, oxygen and breaths.

It was okay once I got onto the maternity ward, as I could get about and go see her. I stayed in hospital 7 days and after that, I would go visit her and stay most of the day then I would go pick my husband up from work and we would go home so he could shower etc, then up to the hospital again at night, then come home and have dinner then to bed. We did this for 8 weeks - it was like a routine to us. It was so awful having to go home without our baby.

Each day was different too, not the same. Between her forgetting to breath, getting jaundice twice, having an infection, problems with trying to breastfeed, bad reflux and needing a blood transfusion - it was hell. Our emotions worked like a yo-yo, tossing between sadness one day and then happiness the next as she would progress, back to sadness if she slipped backwards.

I will never forget my experience, our experience. All I can say is a huge thank you to all of the staff in NICU and SCN. They are truly gods angels working hard.

We were truly happy when our little princess came home and now we treasure every moment and every day with her.

Nichole

Born 3/2/05, 9 wks premature
http://lilypie.com/pic/050523/6c8ea7b.jpghttp://lilypie.com/baby1/060203/2/16/1/+10/.png

Hi again Nichole,

If you haven't already joined Austprem, I can really recommend it as I have found it is great for support and advice re parenting a prem (a NICU nurse told me about it)

I can truly relate to the emotions you describe as it is such an emotionally trying experience for the whole family. But also, my husband and I have found it an incredibly enriching experience and we too have found the NICU and special care staff absolutely amazing in what they have achieved.

Emily had two blood transfusions while in NICU and I found that distressing, and also - like you have said - quite traumatic to see all the interventions required early on and to see her at times just stop breathing. However, now she is approaching home time it is fantastic to see how well and gorgeous she is.

Take care and very best wishes to you and your family.
PS - Isabella looks just gorgeous in your picture!

hey,
i feel really lucky! I had my bubs at 37w, but he was 3610kg!! (7lb 15 1/2oz) He was grey when he came out, due to the cord being wrapped about his throat and it strangling him as i gave birth and i was so scraed as he wasnt breathing. He had a few troubles in the start (bad jaundice to the point is eyes were yellow and blue!) and his breathing wasnt that great, and he had to be monitored for 24 hours, but i got tot take him str8 back to my room after a checkup. my first was 2w overdue, so if felt weird to have one so early!!

Hi Berry!

I was just wondering how Emily is going??

Bet she is just beautiful!!

Best wishes

Hi Kelli,
Emily is going great. She has been home since June 12 (came home on my birthday - 2 days after she was due to be born!). She is over 8lbs now and looks just like a newborn.
Here is her page if you are interested:
http://beautifulemilyjane.tripod.com/emilys_photos/
Thanks for asking how Emily is! All the lovely thoughts have helped me cope with her extremely early arrival.

Berry,

Emily is such a lovely little thing.
She brings tears to my eyes everytime i see her. I think it is wonderful how well she is doing.

When i was at the CYN clinic on Friday a man brought in his baby girl and she was born at 28 weeks. She is also doing very well.

hi
my baby amelia was 7 weeks early due to PROM she didnt need any help with breathing she did have an iv coz i had an infection due to having no waters she was in the nursey for 20 days we would have had her home earlier but she had jundice really bad they did all the test you could think of but they would all ways come back with good results so they ask me to stop breastfeeding for 36 hours too see if it was breastmilk jundice sure enough it was why didnt they do that earlier anyway she is doing really well now it tolk 10weeks before her jundice went at birth she weighed 3lb14oz

berry-wow 27weeks how did you cope?she must be a very stong little girl
she is beauitlful too

take care

shell

Premmie babies are such a miracle especially the really little ones.

I helped my mum raise her sisters premmie after her sister died from complications resulting from pre-eclampsia. Sadly, my aunt never got to hold her little girl who was born 12.5 weeks early (at around 28 weeks) weighing in at about 800g. I remember the wonderful staff at North Shore NICU were fantastic with all the stressed families there, watching their tiny babies struggle.

Thankfully my aunts little miracle is now 12 and an absolute joy. When I look at her I remember her mother who was such a beautiful person, she was a joy to be around.

I like to tease her that they had her wrapped up in foil (well, foil like materials) like she was a little chicken and she laughs and laughs and thinks I am a little mad.. but its true! I thank God that she was a fighter!

AMEN for miracles!!!

odette
mum to Ariel and Immogen (born 31 weeks)
5/12/2002

hi :D

i had Briella at 35 wks.

i was induced as she was in distress and not responding as she should have when i was on the ctg monitor.

my labour was 1 hour and 4 minutes long, she was 44 1/2cm long, 5 pd 5 ounces and 31 cm HC.

she did remarkably well at the start and didnt have to go into special care thankfully, but over the following 10 days, she continually lost weight until she dropped down to 4 pd 9 ounces. at this point, she was readmitted to the childrens hospital and fed by a naso gastric tube for 5 days. when she was discharged, we had to feed her 2 to 3 hrly around the clock, that was hard.

since then she has had "failure to thrive" and at 6 1/2 months old, weighs only 5 kgs. and recently she has experienced a number of illnesses that have really knocked her down. about a month ago, her ear drum ruptured, and then a week later she got bronchiolitis and gastro at the same time and was in hospital for 5 days in an oxygen head box, on a naso gastric tube and also on a drip.

but out of all this, as least she is a happy little baby :D

Berry have just looked at Emily's page & realised she was born at Monash, have to ask is that the one in Clayton??

I only ask coz that is where James was born & they were all just fantastic. Glad to hear that she is doing well now.

Hi Kirsty,

Sorry for not replying earlier - I have only just noticed your post!

Yes Emily was born at Monash Clayton and they were great there - fantastic care of baby and mum. Top doctors and nurses. Yummy food. I didn't want to leave! :D

I so have to agree with you. We found them fantastic as I was 5.5hrs away from home, family & friends.

I have just had a really good look at Emily's site & can so relate here & there to a few of the things that you guys went through. We were luckier in that James wasn't born until 32wks & weighed 3lb 13oz (1738g) at birth so had less of the complications that we were expecting with him coming early.

Hope that Emily is continuing to thrive in her home environment.

Thanks Kirsty,

Glad that James is going well and emerged with flying colours from the prem experience, that is wonderful!

Emily is going really well now - on track for her corrected age with growth and development (apart from weight which is a bit under but steadily moving up the chart as her appetite grows).

I have been wanting to update Emily's web-site but our computer is too slow this month...

Take care,
Kerry

My daughter was born at 29 weeks due to severe pre-eclampsia. She weighed 855 grams. It was quite a surreal experience being totally unprepared for the birth so early in the pregnancy and not having adjusted quite yet to having a baby after such a short time- I was barely showing!! My blood pressure was 250/180 and the midwife wouldn't let me stand up. She took my blood pressure four times and use several different cuffs and stethoscopes because she couldn't believe the reading. I had protein in my urine. Within 30 minutes of being at the hospital i was in a bed with a magnesium drip and several others, a baby monitor strapped on and a catheter in. We were terrified. Less then 24 hrs later i was signing a consent form which I couln't read due to the drugs the doctors had me on and being prepped for an emergency ceasarian as my baby's heartrate was slowing. An hour later Emily was born, the doctors warned us that she would not be breathing but she let out a squawk and took a breath, she was ventilated for 12 hours and then breathed on her own with the assistance of cpap after that. I remember her starting on 1m of breastmilk per hour. Our time spent in NICU was very positive and the kangaroo cuddles were my most favourite thing of all, we spent most of our time at the hospital cuddling, expressing, singing and playing with Emily. My husband used to finish work at 1am and go to the hospital o cuddle and feed her. So sweet!!
I was actually feeling quite high after herbirth and didn't feel at any time that we were going to lose her. Emily remained in hospital for 64 days and came home 2 weeks before she was due to be born weighing 2.2 kilo's. I have since had another baby girl called Zoe and the pregnancy was perfect and she went full term. I did take cardiprin as a preventative for the blood pressure elevation but it remained fine throughout the pregnancy. :D

Hi, its amazing how reading others premmie experiences still evokes so much emotiion in me... I was 31 weeks 3 day when my membranes started leaking. I was taken straight to hospital, and after an examination given steriods, precautionary antibiotics and admitted. I was on complete bed rest, only allowed to go to the toilet when i was desperate, and monitored every two hours for signs of infection. After 48 hours the Dr arranged a scan, and as baby had very little water around him, it was decided he was at greater risk out than in. I was transferred to the general hospital with NICU facilities, and after 5 fairly uneventful hours of inducement (I got to 3cm dialated) we agreed a caesar was less risk to bubba. At 9pm that night my darling little boy, Slade Connor arrived, with a first apgar of 9, weighing 1.995kg (4lb6oz). He did not require any assistance breathing, however it took a few days to regulate his temperature. He spent a week in SCBU with a naso-gastric tube feeding him expressed milk and formula, and we are so fortunate that he thrived really from the start. My room was two floors away, and I don't think anyone who has not been through this experience can fathom the emotion experienced leaving them in the care of nurses while you return to your room for sleep. He was a guts from the start, and started developing the ability to suck at the breast from about day 4. As all that was required now was for him to transfer all feeds to the breast, we were transferred back to the private hospital where my journey started. This was wonderful as I was able to day board, and could have him in a room with me most of thime, and wold then go home to my husband and own bed at night. After another two weeks he was ready to come home, and we haven't looked back :D

He is now 18 months, 14kg, and a definate alpha male!! I sometimes wonder how such a big bruiser grew from such a tiny start.... and then i look bakc at the first photos, and it is as though it was yesterday.

My precious angel Isabella was born at 37 w due to iso-immunisation.My blood levels were sky high and my ob thought that it would be wiser to transfer me to the royal womens in melb for inducement.
We were meant to be induced at 8am but by 2pm, they finally found me a bed and i was induced.5 hours later Bella was born with her cord wrapped around her neck tightly....I saw her for a second and they took her up to NICU.I was allowed to rest for an hour and then was sent up to the ward,DH was allowed to stay with me until we were told that we were allowed up in NICU to see our baby.
We went up to be told that she was very sick and that she needed a double volume blood transfusion and a platelet transfusion straight away, I wasn't allowed to touch her and I was starting to feel useless. Went back downstairs to the ward where i had a rest.
At 10pm that next night DH was told he couldn't come up to the ward to get me so I discharged myself and went up to see my daughter. By this time she had tubes and lines coming out from all around her, but i still wasn't allowed to touch her.DH and I went downstairs and across the road to the flats and then went and got some food(1am).
6am next morning received a phone call saying that the blood transfusion had finished and we could come back up..she still had the lines in just in case she needed another lot of blood. She had to have B/T every 4 hours, so we went up to check on her then.
After four days under the phototherapy lights in NICU, Bella was finally moved into the SCN nursery.She still wasn't out of danger, but her condition had improved. The Paed came in and said that one set of lights could be taken away, but we had to keep checking her levels.After that, when the first lot of blood came back we found that her levels had risen again.Second set of bloods came back 4 hrs later and her levels had stabled.I was allowed to touch her now, but still couldn't have a cuddle! Every time after that she seemed to get better, the next morning they took the second set off her and her levels rose, then steadied out again.By the third day, when all the lights were off her, i was allowed to cuddle and feed her for the first time.Two days before we wanted to come home with Bella, we had to make a flying trip home to get our two eldest children ready to start school again after the holidays. It was then I promised my eldest daughter that her baby sister would be home in 2 days.
Bella's levels rose that night and it seemed like she wouldn't be allowed to come home, but after the took her last bloods the results were good, so 1 week after Bella was born she came home.
She has had two more transfusions since , one at 3 months and the other at 4 months.Her levels are now stable and she has been giving the all clear.

Zachs story:

At 30.5 weeks i had a routine checkup. My bp was up so they sent me to the hospital (was booked in at a birth centre) as they suspected Pre-eclampsia.

Was admitted straight away and told I'd be on bedrest til 37 weeks and then induced. I had no idea what PE even was, nor what it 'meant' to have a premmie so I just kept asking 'when can i go home' and didnt understand why they wouldnt even let me go home to pack my hospital bag.

the next day I had a scan done and they changed my time til delivery to about 2 weeks. I was given a steroid injection to help his lungs deliver.

The next day I had another more thorough scan and they changed it to 'at most 10 days' until he would be born as my placenta hadnt been working, they guessed it stopped wprking properly around 26 weeks.

the next day, 31 weeks I woke up feeling fine, by early afternoon was headachish and panic buttons were hit.

Was prepped for surgery and tiny 2lb 12 ounce Zach was born. He spent almost 6 weeks in hospital and has had some developmental and growth issues but all in well is doing fantastically at 3 years old now.

Isobellas story:

At 32 weeks my BP started creeping again, I'd been paranoid my whole pregnancy and had not had an easy time with SPD, false labour, haemorraging and so on.... I was in hospital on bedrest for a few days and they anticipated i was going to deliver so I was given the steroid injections once again.

A couple of days later i was sent home and though my BP kept rising, it wasnt severe enough to deliver yet.

At 35 weeks I started celebrating for almost getting to the 'home run'.

I went to bed at 1am having just left messages on the internet celebrating that success...

at 4am I awake with a killer headache and panic station was worse than ever. i was rushed to hospital with my bp at 225/165, I was hyperventalating and losing conciousness. It took thme hours and hours to stabilize me, they didnt know what was wrong because it wasnt PE this time just hypertension but my body was shutting down. I was getting ready to be taken to ICU when finally the magnesium sulphate started working and my BP came back down. Within 5 minutes im sitting up asking if I can go home again... HAAAAA!

4 hours later it started again only this time they'd didnt mess around i was rushed in for an emergency c-sect and isobella was born weighing a hefty 5lb 12 ounces!! During surgery my BP actually dropped down very low as more drugs kicked in at last.

Thankfully bella got to come home with me and her only problem was needing some oxygen at birth and then having jaundice but both are common. So far shes doing great, shes 6 months old now and growing WAY too fast for me ... shes the same size at 6 months that zach was at 18 months... its unbelievable the difference.

This time around im only 15 weeks and have bp problems since week 8, things arent looking good and my ob has told me 32 weeks would be 'good' but im booked in for a c-sect at 36 weeks so of course thats ideal. only time will tell tho!

Wow Charmaine, you've certainly been through it with your pregnancies!

I was admitted at 28 weeks pregnant, after I just popped in to ante natal clinic to have my bp checked - because my dad was worried it was a bit high.
When I asked them what my bp was, the nurse didn't tell me because she didn't want me to worry! The next thing I knew, I was admitted on to the ward and I was trying so hard to hold back the tears.

About 10 mins later, a consultant took me to labour ward. Suddenly, I was surrounded by anaesthatists, midwives, consultants, with drips being put in, medication flying about, and the trace going like mad. Poor dh looked pale and in shock!

Luckily, they got my bp down to a more manageable level and so I stayed in hospital until 33 weeks, where finally the pre eclampsia got too bad to control anymore. I also had scans, which showed I had a 'mature placenta' - so they had already to deliver early anyway.

Meanwhile, I had a blockage in my windpipe from where i'd been intubated as a child and had incurred damage from that. To cut a long story short, I had an emergency operation on my windpipe at 30 weeks pregnant. No one new if the baby would start early labour, or go into distress because of the strain on my body during the operation.

When I was taken down to theater, I saw the incubator and all the obstaetricians on stand by. I cried so much, I could hardly breathe. The last thing I said as I was being sedated was (grabbing someone's hand)pleading with them to look after my baby. I was pretty certain I was going to die that day.

Waking up in recovery was strange. I woke up with an image of dh, me, and a little girl holding my hand. I am so lucky we all made it through ok.

Delivery was by EMCS at 33 weeks. Seren was taken straight up to NICU, and weighed 3lb6oz.

Hi
I am new here.

My first and only baby was delivered at 36 weeks by c-section on December 6th 2005.

He has stopped growing at 30 weeks but it took the doctors a while to figure that out. I was given 2 steroid injections (ouch!!!) 2 weeks before the planned caesear to help develop Ethans lungs. I had to go into hospital everyday for that 2 weeks to have Ethans heart monitored and to check the fluid, placenta and see if he had grown.

On the day of the caesar I was a nervous wreck because we had been told by the doctors Ethan was only 1.5kg, that his head wasn't in proportion to his body and that there was a possibility of birth defects but we would't know any of that until he was born. It goes without saying that that was an awful 2 week wait.

To cut a long story short - Ethan was born on December 6th 2005 and weighed 1.93kg. He did not have any birth defects and his body was well proportioned.

I got to hold him for 1 minute before they took him away and I didn't see him for 2 days because he was in Special Care Nursery on the 4th level. I was on he 6th level. Due to the amount of pain after the caesar, it made it impossible to get out of bed. My fiance was fantastic - he took the video camera and digital camera down to Special Care and took heaps of footage of Ethan and would bring it back up to me to see. He even put photos in frames for me to have beside my bed. That gave me the courage to push through the pain barrier and go and see my little boy!!!

The hardest thing for me was knowing that I had had a baby but it didn't feel like it because he wasn't with me. The lady I shared the room with had her baby with her and that was difficult to watch.

Ethan had to stay in hospital for 2 weeks because his weight had dropped down to 1.77 kg and he wasn't allowed home until he was 2kg.

It was so hard going home without him. Words can't even describe it. I did alot of pacing up and down my hallway.

Ethan is now 6 weeks old and weighs 3.1kg. He has shocked everyone by the amount of progress he has made and is making each day.

I feel so blessed to have him in my life and every agonising minute of stress and worry was well worth it.

Hi Katie

When I had Maria (and she was in NCC) they gave me a single room because there was one available + they knew it is hard for mums without their babies.

hi, im new, my last baby (no.5) had to be induced at 36weeks due to me suffering cholestasis of pregnancy. he came out grey, not breathing and had to be resucitated twice. he spent 8 days in special care, and didnt get to have his first breastfeed until he was 5 days old. He made fantastic progress after that, and we took charlie home when he was 11 days old. Our fantastic hospital let me stay with him the whole time. im now expecting no 6, and have just started to itch with the cholestasis again. This means i will be induced early again, so im pretty nervous, and hoping for a good outcome.