Hello all, this is my first post. I am mum to a beautiful, healthy 11 week old baby girl. She was born 6 weeks early at 34 weeks and, well, it was all a bit of a shock!
I feel a bit odd sometimes about it all because although the baby was planned and obviously expected I just wasn't expecting her to come so suddenly. One day I was at work, the next day I had given birth by midday!
She was in NICU for a week and I was on Postnatal (waiting for a bed on Transitional Care Unit) then we both moved into TCU for a week, so 2 weeks in hospital altogether. We were in so long not because either of us were ill, but trying to learn to breastfeed- we cracked it eventually and went home after 2 weeks.
I was wondering if anyone else had a similar experience with an early birth, whereby everything went reasonably well, but was left a little shell shocked and haunted by the experience?
I know that things could have gone much, much worse and I honestly am very happy and physically healthy (as is my beautiful daughter). However I found adjusting to life with a newborn just the biggest, hardest change ever in my life, and I do feel a bit cheated in some ways that I never even got to ease into mat leave and take some real chill out time for myself before the birth. I think the shock wasn't helped by the long hospital stay and for much of that time I didn't know when the baby and myself would be going home. In some ways it felt like being in a lovely kind of prison!
I know that others have it much, much worse with premature babies and I do feel a bit melodramatic in posting this, but is there anyone who has had a similar experience and how did you/are you adjusting to it all?
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Feelings on early birth that went well but was a bit of a shock (long, sorry!)
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wickedwilywaitress · 04/08/2013 01:18
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