World Prematurity Day - What’s To Celebrate? Baby Neil’s Story
Baby Neil’s Story
In 2016 I received the exciting news that I was pregnant. I was going to be a first-time mum at the end of January 2017. Little did I know that my baby boy was actually going to arrive 10 weeks early, in fact it was the day after World Prematurity Day.
I was signed off from work at 23 weeks. I had pelvic girdle pain and it was horrific. It hurt to walk, sit, stand and lie down. I was referred for aquanatal classes, antenatal exercise classes, acupuncture and prescribed mild pain killers. Due to my first scan at 12 weeks picking up that I had PAAP-A I was put on the multi scan pathway. They detected a protein deficiency that I was told not to worry about, the extra scans were just to make sure that any lack in protein wasn’t going to affect my baby’s growth towards the end of the pregnancy.
I was getting so bored at home, I was in pain and I was struggling to focus on anything I was that tired. So when it came to going for the 30 week scan I was excited to be seeing my baby but also to break up the monotony of being stuck at home. We set off early knowing that parking at the hospital could be a nightmare.
The Scan
The parking situation was no surprise, there was no space to be found! My husband dropped me off at the door of the building I needed and drove off to find that elusive space. I went in on my own. My appointment was pretty much on time (I don’t think they dare be late for scans – lots of pregnant women with very full bladders aren’t the most patient). I explained to the sonographer the parking situation and that my husband might wander in at some point.
The scan began and then stopped. The sonographer said to check if my husband had been in touch, he hadn’t. She told me to call him and tell him to park in the 10 minute bay. She was off to tell security that she was giving permission. She left before I could say anything. I called my husband and he reluctantly parked in the emergency bay and came in.
As soon as my husband sat down the sonographer started to scan my tummy again and immediately told us that something was wrong. Our baby boy had a huge amount of fluid on his body and his heart was beating too quickly. We later found out these conditions are known as Hydrops Fetalis and SVT (Supraventricular Tachycardia). She had already sent the initial scans up to the doctors and was going to go and find out what the plan of action was going to be.
I was to go to theatre immediately.
The Emergency C-Section
I was rushed to theatre and an emergency c-section was performed. I wasn’t aware at the time but they had told my husband when he was being prepped for theatre that they didn’t think our son was going to survive. In fact statistically he only had a 10% chance of surviving. The team delivered our baby boy and quickly took him to the neonatal cart to work on him.
The room was silent. The team didn’t need to talk to each other they were such a well oiled machine, all knowing their roles. Our son didn’t cry. I asked my husband to peek around the curtain that was hung across my middle. He looked but couldn’t see anything. A few minutes later an incubator was parked next to my head and I got to meet my son for the first time. I instantly fell in love even more than I had during my pregnancy.
They pushed us for a name and then rushed him up to the neonatal unit as his heart was beating at 320 beats per minute (that’s about 6 beats per second!).
The NICU Journey
Later that day I was taken up to the NICU by 2 nurses so that I could meet see my son again. There was bunting all over the ward and I was later told that the previous day they had celebrated world prematurity day. I got to look at my son through his incubator for 20 minutes before they had to take me back to the maternity ward.
We were in for a tough few months. My son was on the NICU for 73 days in total. The first 4 weeks was a real struggle in keeping him alive. Each day I didn’t know if I was going to have a baby to go and see. It was 5 days before I was allowed to touch him and 18 days before I was allowed my first cuddle. At 4 weeks old the unit he was on decided that he needed a more specialist unit. So he was transferred. Within 24 hours of him being under the care of specialists his heart condition was under control. From this point on he went from strength to strength.
Once feeding was established, medication was tweaked and my son’s oxygen dependency reduced he was transferred back to the hospital that was closer to home. After 73 days we got the incredible news we could go home!
It didn’t end there!
You think when babies get to go home from the neonatal unit they must be healthy and well. My son was discharged with a lot of medication. I had to give him a minimum of 17 doses of different medications every day. He still had SVT and Hydrops but it was deemed I could manage his health at home. On day 4 of being home disaster struck. My tiny baby went into respiratory arrest. We resuscitated him on our kitchen table and managed to revive him back to life just as the ambulances turned onto our road.
We were rushed back to the hospital where we found out he was battling with bronchiolitis. We never had this kind of dramatic readmission back to the hospital but for the first 2 years of his life he did need to be taken urgently on several occasions.
Neil is turning 4 and is now a happy, healthy and thriving little boy. World Prematurity Day means something very different to me now. When he was born it was a day of sadness. The following year we were still going through the tough journey so although it wasn’t sad it felt more pride with a touch of sadness as I had so much admiration for the fight my son had for life. Now I can celebrate the day more as he has come such a long way!
Presents For Preemies Bio
Presents for Preemies is a joint venture between Lisa Norman and Stacey Matthews.
Presents for Preemies has a blog, gifting service and more recently they have set up a support group that offers more than peer support.
Lisa Norman lives in Lancashire with her husband, 2 sons and German Shepherd.
Stacey Matthews lives with her husband, 4 sons and husky, in Shropshire.
Between them they have co-authored 3 books all of which became Amazon number 1 bestsellers.
Our Links
www.presentsforpreemies.co.uk
www.facebook.com/presentsforpreemies
www.instagram.com/presents_for_preemies
Facebook group: www.facebook.com/groups/PreemieParentCommunityUK
