I'm in shock - a friend has given birth at 24 weeks

I got the news last night. A friend of mine gave birth on Friday to a little boy. She was only 24 weeks along. He's alive but that's all I know. I do know that babies born after 26 weeks have a 85% chance of survival. It's so sad and I've been really upset. He's only 600 grams. It's so scary and I can't stop thinking about it.

She left work early on Friday with bad pains. She was probably in labour and didn't know it.

It's just so sad. She and her husband had troubles conceiving and took about 2 years with fertility treatments etc. That's what makes it worse because I know they wanted a baby so badly.

I hope everything will turn out okay. I know he's in good hands at the hospital but it's still scary.

Fee i hope everything will be okay with your friends baby. Please keep us updated on how things go.

[-o< I hope that things are ok for your friends baby.

Fi, this may not mean anything, but when I was in hospital with Will, there was a lady in there who's given birth to a 23 weeker and that baby was around the same in weight, but hun i tell you what these tiny little babies, fight , so tell your friend to hang in there, they fight like no tomorrow, by the way that baby girl, did survive?

My thoughts are with your friend.

Hospitals are amazing now with what they can do. My niece was born at 31 weeks, and is now a happy and healthy 18 month old. You would never tell she was prem, and has no asthma or anything so far. Touch wood!
I hope your friend copes OK - its such a tough road, with days and days spent at hospital. Help out wherever you can - do their washing, cook them some easy meals for the freezer, go and visit when you can. All of these things make a real difference for them.
The last thing they want to worry about when they are at home is housework and the dishes!

I am hoping and [-o< that everything turns out ok for your friends & their wee little bubba....

I hope everything will be okay with your friend's little boy, Fee. They are in my thoughts.

[-o< everything is ok for your friends baby boy.

I've got my fingers crossed for your friends little boy, don't underestimate how big a fighter premmies are. I had a baby boy born at 32wks weighing 1738gms (admittedly a fair bit bigger than your friends little one) but while we were in the hospital there were some tiny babies there & you get amazed by what they can achieve.

Our son is now 3yrs old & you would never in a million years know that he was a premmie.

I would like to make you aware that being so early he will be at risk of some developmental problems, but then again they may not affect him at all. Just something to think about coz your friend may need loads of support over the coming months as it is a pretty long road to getting him home & they may have to deal with some setbacks.

I've got everything crossed for your friends & I hope you will continue to let us know how they get on.

[-o< Fingers crossed [-o<

I hope that everything works out Fingers crosses for her.
Let us know how she is going

The latest...

His skin has toughened up which means that he is looking a lot better and he is less prone to getting marks on his body which let infection in.

He is now taking 6ml of milk per 2 hours - this means that his stomach is working.

He has done his first and several subsequent poos - this means that his bowels are working.

He now has a central line in one arm and an IV in the other. These lines feed medicine into his body. Another line has been removed from his stomach. The number of lines in his body seems to go up and down each day.

On Sunday night, he weighed in at 722g. This is a good improvement. He lost weight in the first couple of days and would have gotten down to about 650g. As he is a bit more stable, they will be able to weigh him more often to tell if he is putting on weight.

His heart duct appears to be closed, but it might re-open again and require more drugs. Apparently the duct is normal in any baby but premature babies are not ready to close it.

He's had more scans. It is very likely that he will need a blood transfusion soon as his bone marrow is too immature to produce enough blood.

Infection is the key risk at this time. So far, he has been very lucky not to pick up any infections.

Thank you for keeping us up to date Fiona.

Sounds like your friends little boy is making good progress at this stage, here's hoping he continues to be a little fighter & that all goes well for them all.

Fee thanx for keeping us updated & would be great if you could continue to do so from time to time.

Thank for the update Fi, comeon little man keep up the fight. [-o<

Im really hoping Fee that he is getting bigger and stronger every day. My thoughs go out to your friends and to you too.

His name is Lloyd.

He now weighs 816g. He's doing well and has just opened his eyes (they were fused shut).

Also apparently he can hear and recognise his parents' voices which is so wonderful.

My friend and her husband are doing fairly well considering. It's very hard though and my friend has her good and bad days.

I'm SO pleased to hear that he is doing so well. What a relief!

Fingers crossed that little Lloyd continues to thrive and grow stronger with each and every day.

It sounds like little Lloyd is doing really well & his weight gain is great!!

Here's hoping that he continues to thrive & go forward in leaps & bounds.

Huge hugs to your friends coz it sounds like they need them, it is such an emotionally draining time when you are spending most of it at a hospital watching your baby & not really being able to do much. Hope that they are getting plenty of rest coz they don't need to end up sick either.

Lloyd weighed 915 grams on Tuesday night. As a reward for growing, he is now allowed 14 ml of milk every two hours. That's nearly 3 teaspoons!

It looks likely that his parents will get their first opportunity to hold Lloyd today!

O:)

That is wonderful news Fee!! Yay for little Lloyd!! And how eciting that his mummy and daddy can hold him today... \:D/

What wonderful news & what a great milestone for Lloyd to have achieved.

Here's hoping his mummy & daddy get that first precious hold today.

That such great news! I hope they get a cuddle today!

Oh wow what a little fighter GO LLYOD I hope you got a cuddle from your mum and dad yesterday, that is so hard to imagine what they would be going through that would be like me having my bubba next week aarrrghhhh stay in the belly little bubba. [-o< Thoughts and prayers with little lyod I hope you reach the 1 kilo mark real soon!

It really is amazing what special care units can do for premmies now. When seren was in special care, I was amazed at how well they can look after even the tiniest of babies. Infection control was a major factor at the hospital, and everyone was made to constantly disenfect and they're rules were very strict (and for good reason).

It really is terrifying having a prem baby. I'm so glad that everything seems to be going well Fi. It is a long road to going home, but so worth it when that day comes!

\:D/

hey glad to hear he is doin ok so far!

Just a little light on the matter, my DH's aunty had her IVF twins at 22 weeks in the year 2000 they were the most premature in that year! and they are now turning 6 this year! because they were a boy and a girl apparently the boys dont get all the good stuff when they are in the tummy so he is deaf and has a bionic ear so he can hear purfectly but needs the ear pak! they are great kids and when they came out they put a bunny rabbit next to them in the crib and it looks like a big one but its really a small one so they were tiny but were fighters!!!

So yeah, hope llyod is doin ok!

Thought I should come back and update this.

Lloyd finally went home on Saturday, 11 March 2006 after 120 days (4 months) in hospital. He now weighs 3150 grams (6.9 pounds) and is 51 cm long.

He passed his due date two weeks ago (1st March). O:)

What a little fighter!!!

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Thought I should come back and update this.

Lloyd finally went home on Saturday, 11 March 2006 after 120 days (4 months) in hospital. He now weighs 3150 grams (6.9 pounds) and is 51 cm long.

He passed his due date two weeks ago (1st March). O:)

What a little fighter!!!

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WOW! :) How awesome...at two weeks past his due date he's 6.9 pounds? My niece is about 3 weeks and she's only just over 7 pounds now. The staff at the hospital & his parents have obviously done such a terrific job with him! :)

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Thought I should come back and update this.

Lloyd finally went home on Saturday, 11 March 2006 after 120 days (4 months) in hospital. He now weighs 3150 grams (6.9 pounds) and is 51 cm long.

He passed his due date two weeks ago (1st March). O:)

What a little fighter!!!

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WOW! :) How awesome...at two weeks past his due date he's 6.9 pounds? My niece is about 3 weeks and she's only just over 7 pounds now. The staff at the hospital & his parents have obviously done such a terrific job with him! :)

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Yep 6.9 pounds (I used a measurement converter on the Net - I'm not good with baby weight in grams and kgs!). I guess he's just like a regular newborn now which is fantastic.

Fee, that's awesome news. I must have missed this thread initially and have had tears as I read of Lloyd's journey. I'm so thrilled for him and his family that he's gone home. =D>

=D> I'm really happy for Lloyd and his mummy and daddy - they've obviously been through a really hard time and it's great to hear that he's done so well!

That's fantastic news. Thanks for updating us!

Thanks for the update, so far things sound like they are going as well as can be expected. Hipefully he will continue gaining weight and get stronger and stronger as each day goes by.