Tommy's 101 days: from hospital to home

Our son Tommy was born at 26 weeks and weighed 1lb 15oz (900g). 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.

You hold your breath for the entire time that your baby is in hospital. Every phone call, you dread. Every time you walk into the neonatal unit, you close your eyes, scared of what you might see.

Becoming a NICU expert 

Tommy in NICU

People say it’s like a rollercoaster, but it’s worse than that; a rollercoaster that’s on fire and coming off the track still doesn’t do it justice.

This isn’t how you imagined parenthood. No one knows whether to congratulate you because they don’t know if your baby is going to make it. You spend your days sat by their incubator, obsessed with respiration rates and saturation levels, and watching their tiny chests go up and down. You learn things from a world that you never knew existed. Numbers, acronyms, abbreviations. You become an expert. 

Fear and joy

Tommy aged 11 months with mum Jenni

Nothing can prepare you for the fear and worry that comes with being a NICU parent, but then nothing beats the feeling of utmost joy at every milestone: wearing clothes for the first time; their first bath; the first time they open their eyes. All things that a term parent would take for granted. Premature babies are little superheroes, fighting for the chance to survive in a world where bigger is seen as better.

They prove that saying wrong in so many ways. Tommy is a brave, strong little man with the heart of a lion and he has fought hard and beaten so many odds to be where he is today. He spent 101 days in hospital and is now 11 months old. We couldn’t be prouder of him and we consider ourselves the luckiest parents in the world. 

 With thanks to Jenni Murray for sharing Tommy’s story.