Brendan's Story, born at 30wks
Sorry this is a little long, I've written from conception.
At 20, I had the world at my feet. My Fiancé and I both had strong jobs and were looking at buying our first home. It was 4:30 am when I discovered I was pregnant, (I worked at Coles in the bakery). We were both very excited!
I had Morning sickness all day, but still battled along in my job. At 16wks I had severe bleeding and was taken to hospital. Being a country hospital I had to wait around an hour or so for the Dr to arrive. When he arrived he had a feel of my tummy and told me I was miscarrying. I was heartbroken. I was only kept in overnight, they were all 99% sure I was going to lose my little bub. I saw my Dr the following day, but had to wait a week for an ultrasound to find out if my little bub had survived. It was the worst week of my life. I had already taken leave from my job, not wanting to risk anything. When they did the ultrasound I saw my little bub, he was ok! :D I had bled from around the placenta, but it appeared to still be intact and healthy. I was on bed rest from then on. At around 20 wks my fiancé got another job about 4-5 hrs away, we were staying at his Nana's.
In Jan 07 we moved to a very small town, Marvel Loch a farming/mining town approximately 30 kms south of Southern Cross WA. I stayed with my mum, not wanting to disrupt the pregnancy; I was determined to carry my baby. I was having ultrasounds every 2-3 weeks to make sure everything was going ok. At 24 wks I had finally stopped passing blood. I thought I was safe.
At 28wks my waters broke (PPROM, Preterm- PreLabour Rupture of Membranes) there was no warning. I felt ok, but starting feeling sick inside, it was way too early! My mum lives out of town and rang my hospital, they told me to go straight to King Edward Memorial Hospital. My mum drove me the 2 hrs into Perth. The next few hours were a blur, I had drips and blood tests and strapped to the ECG. At around 11:30 pm I was admitted onto the ward. I was given steroids and other drugs to stop my labour. I didn't really sleep much that night. My mum had slept in her car as she couldn't get a room for the night. I had an ultrasound the following day, showing a small 1108 Gms (2lb 7oz).
The next few days passed slowly, my mum was always there she didn't go home for anything. The nurses showed me the NICU, which was scary seeing all the tiny babies. The nurse pointed out, through the window, a baby that had been born at 28 wks. I felt a little bit more prepared for what was going to happen. For the next week and a bit I had seen the inside of the labour ward 3 times with false alarms. On the 24th of Feb I woke up with contractions happening around every 3-4 mins once again it was a trip down to the labour ward. It was going to be a long day. Closer to giving birth it was discovered I had Chorioamnionitis (An infection of the Uterus Lining) I had given my bub an infection also.
At 3:15 am on the 25th of Feb, My little miracle boy was born weighing in at 1545 gms. I saw him being born, poor little guy was blue.
It was really hard not being able to hold him. My mum could see what was happening and tried to stop me from seeing him. Brendan?€™s Heart wasn't beating and he wasn't breathing. The whole room was silent all I could hear was them counting the compressions to get his heart started. The Dr had to give him a shot of adrenaline (sp?) It took them nearly 5 mins to get his heart beating and to get him breathing. His Apgar scores at 1 and 5 were 2 and 4. At around 3:30 am they showed him to me. He was hooked up to all the life supprot machines. I touched his little hand and he grabbed hold of my finger. They had to pull him off so they could get him into the NICU.
My fiancé came down to visit us that day. We went down to see our little miracle; I thought I was prepared to see him hooked up to the ventilator and all the tubes everywhere. But I wasn't I burst into tears, It took me 3-4 days before I could sit with him longer that 15 mins.
Brendan was strong; he was on Ventilation for 5 hours before going onto CPAP. At lunchtime they started cycling him on and off CPAP. He was trying to breathe himself!! I remember my first hold, he was 6 days old. We were both wrapped in bubble wrap and blankets. It was the most beautiful moment.
He moved into the SCN at 8 days. He was doing very well. I was allowed to hold him more often. At 2 wks he got an infection which saw him go back into the NICU, after almost losing him he bounced back only spending 3 days there. Finally we saw the last of NICU. At 3 1/2 weeks he was out of the humidi-crib. I was able to cuddle him when I wanted. We tried to start breastfeeding which was amazing. I had to use a nipple-shield, because of his little mouth. At 5 weeks he was being breast and bottle fed. No more nasal-gastric tube! He was still desating which meant we weren't going anywhere. At 5 weeks and 4 days the Dr ordered the monitor off him, a huge relief a step closer to home. After keeping him monitored for 24 hrs, we were allowed to go home on Easter Saturday. He was 5 weeks and 6 days old. Brendan battled two infections and jaundice.
Brendan is now 10 months old and has no problems at all. He's still a little behind, but I don't care. He's beautiful and healthy and that's all that matters.
Visit Brendan's hospital journey here: Brendan from birth to 6 weeks old
