It’s very hard to know what to say when someone has just had a premature or sick baby. Saying ‘congratulations’ often feels wrong in the circumstances. I know I didn’t know what to say until I had two very sick, premature children of my own.
Read MoreFrom the moment my waters broke at 30 weeks, I knew my life would be thrown into unknown, scary, and unpredictable times. After a few days, Jackson made his early arrival by emergency c section.
Read MoreWorking as a nursery nurse on a neonatal unit, I was so pleased when a colleague told me she had been made aware of these stickers that go onto babies’ red books. They raise awareness that a baby has spent time on a neonatal unit.
Read MoreI had a healthy, normal, straightforward pregnancy until 25+4 weeks when things started to feel odd. From there on, it’s all a blur! I was blue-lighted to Queen Alexandra hospital in Portsmouth where our son, Marlo, was born at 26 weeks.
Read MoreMy twins were born 6 weeks prematurely in January 2020. My girl twin arrived first at a pretty ok size of 5lb 2oz, she was small and needed a little help with feeding but was OK. My boy twin made an appearance an hour later and weighed a decent 6lb 10oz but he wasn't as strong as his sister.
Read MoreXander was born at 31+2 due to reduced/next to no fetal movements. It turned out he had absent end diastolic flow and that only one artery was supplying him with oxygen, blood and nutrients, which was not enough. He was born via emergency C-section and entered this world on Thursday 20th August at 16:49 weighing 2lb 5oz.
Read MoreOn Saturday 8 December 2018 at 8:55pm Harry came into the world with a bang. My uterus ruptured and he fell into my stomach and was floating in blood; both of us were in a critical way. Harry was delivered via C Section and I was put to sleep.
Read MoreThank you to every nurse, doctor and consultant that cared for my babies. Thank you to every member of the maintenance staff for keeping their environment clean and safe. It’s so hard to single out one person when everyone involved played a part in the safe homecoming of my twins Liam and Zachary but, that said, there was one nurse who stood out – Tracy.
Read MoreWhen I found out I was in premature labour, we were taken to a hospital far away from home. It was a whirlwind three days, going from 'textbook pregnancy' to becoming a mum to a 26-weeker, and it took some time to process everything that happened.
Read MoreIf you’re reading this after giving birth early, congratulations on the birth of your beautiful baby! I remember feeling a bit strange when the first person said that to me. I wasn’t sure if I was ready to be congratulated but I soon realised that I had just had a baby, even though he arrived three months too early. Like me, you probably never imagined the first time you saw your baby, they would be covered in wires and tucked away inside an incubator.
Read More11 October 2019 is a date that changed our lives forever. After a five-day mini break to New York and Boston, I was 23 weeks and 5 days’ pregnant when I boarded the plane to fly home to the UK. However, moments before take-off I suffered a placental abruption and was taken by ambulance to Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston.
Read MoreI was 28+1 weeks’ pregnant when we set off on what was to be our last getaway to a friend’s wedding in Verona, Italy. Feeling fine, we boarded the plane but once up in the air I start to bleed, so after a trip to the airport doctor and with a letter in hand we headed off to a local women’s hospital.
Read MoreOur son Tommy was born at 26 weeks and weighed 1lb 15oz (879g). We were told that he was a good weight for his gestation but, to us, he was just so tiny. Tiny but so, so perfect. The experience of neonatal intensive care (NICU) is like no other and, unless you’ve been through it, you can never really understand.
Read MoreIt has been 140 days since I heard the words “Oh this is not good, not good at all. This baby has to come out”. It’s been 139 days since my baby was born at 29 weeks by emergency c section, weighing 2lb 2oz, having stopped growing some weeks before.
Read MoreIn 2011 I found out I was pregnant. It wasn’t a surprise because, like most things in my life, it was carefully planned. Working in the media there’s not a great deal of job security and I’d strategically manoeuvred myself into a permanent role after years of freelancing in order to get some paid maternity leave and – most importantly for me – a job to return to.
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