I need MN help!!

[TenaciousMe]

Hi everyone. Thought I'd post this here as seems to have the speediest response!

My best friend in the world gave birth to a little girl yesterday, at 29 weeks via emergency C section. Mum and baby are doing really well but baby has been moved to another neo natal unit over an hour away!

I'm in the proccess of making my friend a little gift box for while she's in hospital. Just magazines, hand cream, chocolate etc.

My request for help is this... If any of you have positive and uplifting RL stories of early babies, and don't mind a non-MNetter reading them, could you post them here? I thought i could print some off to put in her gift box, to give her some words of inspiration and encouragement from people who may have been through what she's going through now.

A lovely thread started by Galena yesterday gave me some inspiration to start this for her...

Well, my DD was born at 33 weeks, weighting 3lb 3oz. She was a tiny little thing. she spent 4 weeks in neo natal and it was scary as hell BUT.. that was 10 years ago and I now have a cheeky, fun,lovely 10 year old.

My friend had a baby 2 years ago, he was delivered at around 28/29 weeks, again was tiny, is now a tantruming, cute, cheeky, typical 2 year old.

Hope your friend and her baby are well and home soon.

My friend had a baby last year, at 28 weeks, weighing 2lb 2. She was taken to a neonatal unit over an hour away and spent about 7 weeks there. She has now just had her first birthday and is a typical one year old - in size and development - crawling, laughing, eating well etc.
Hope your friend and baby are home soon.

Thanks both, what lovely stories. I'm hoping she'll be able to read these if she's on her own in the hospital and feeling down.

My cousin was born 12 weeks early, he is now a strapping 40 year old.

Best wishes to your friend.

Hi
My second ds was born at 27 weeks in hospital for about three months, was a really hard time, it feels like it is always 2 steps forward 1 step back.
However that is the negative it feels like forever at the time but it isnt, he has just finished his last GCSE last week is 6 foot 3 tall and eats like a horse, I do remember how hard it was when he was so little.
Think positive..

Hugssssss

My step-daughter was born at 33 weeks weighing 3lb. She is now 15, wearing eyeliner and dying her hair black!!! She is a lovely girl with no health issues at all (well, apart from teenage lazyitis!!!) She will be doing her GCSEs next year and is happy and healthy! Congratulations on your baby girl.
My cousin also had a prem baby 4 years ago and she said that it is hard not to compare them, in the early days, to a full-term baby. Her advice is to celebrate every achievement, no matter how big or small.
With best wishes xxxxx

Oh, just thought of something else. Another friend's grandmother was born at 30 weeks, weighing under 2lbs. She wasn't expected to live, and was put in a shoe box in the oven (on a low heat!) for 2 hours each day, and wiped down with cotton wool and whisky. She is now 84 and has never been ill in her life! I love that story!

I had my little boy by CS at 35 weeks because of high BP, IUGR and bicornuate uterus.

He was 4lb 5oz and had to be fed through an NG tube for about 9 or 10 days in SCBU.

I know that he's not as early as your friend's but he is fine - he caught up size-wise really quickly.

A friend had twin boys at 31 weeks - obv they spent time in NICU but they are fine now.

I wrote out my whole story for my FB friends, two days after he arrived - it's a bit long but I can post it if you want.

Both my friend's babies were born at 33 weeks and were tiny. One had a hole in his heart. Now strapping 5 and 7 year olds.

Thanks for all your messages so far everyone. I'm sure she'll really appreciate them.

Going to go and see her this afternoon so i'll take this thread so far and pass on your best wishes, hugs etc

My amazing son was born at 27 weeks last August, planned C section for IUGR. He weighed 1lb 4oz and had a rough ride at first. We brought him home on oxygen after five months and he got himself off it two weeks ago. I've just got back from his second baby swimming lesson and he's lying next me on the couch kicking his legs with food all over his face

They are bloody amazing these babies! Must be very hard for your friend being far away. I expect she will be trying to express milk- one of the things they recommend to help is fennel tea, you can get it in health food shops if you wanted to pick some up for her. The Bliss parent info leaflets are brilliant especially 'Breastfeeding your premature baby'.

Welcome to the world little one, hope you have an easy SCBU journey and go home with your mum soon.

One of my closest friends had both her children prem. Her daughter 8 weeks early (3lb8oz) and her son 10 weeks early (3lb15oz).
They are both now the same size and weight as other children in their classes. In fact her son's now fellow classmate was in SCBU (same room) with him as he was enormous when he was born (nearly 12lb) and was very cold when he was born. It was like having David and Goliath in the same room.
They are both very special to me they arent baptised so im not their godmother but i treat them the same as my godchildren and call them my nearlies!!!

My DD was born at 27 weeks last April, weighing 1lb 15oz. We were transferred to a hospital 75 miles away before she was born because our local unit was full. She was in SCBU for 9 weeks in total (3 weeks in distant unit and 6 weeks locally).

We were warned that SCBU was a real rollercoaster ride and it was - alsthough we were lucky, we had mainly good days. We were told to keep a diary of everything as a few months further on you'll have forgotten everything! Also - find something good every day!

She's now 14 months old, has just started crawling and is the most gorgeous, cheeky girl around (pics on profile). She is still small, and I do have to keep reminding myself NOT to compare her to term babies, but it's hard.

Some of my closest friends now are friends I made in SCBU.

My very good friend had a baby at 29 weeks via EMCS. He stayed in hospital until he was "due", came out with some oxygen for a while.

He is now 9 and completely utterly normal, and huge!

My brother was born 14 years ago at 27 weeks gestation. He's a strapping teenager now and just fine.

What a lovely idea for your friend.

what a lovely friend you are, how kind

MrsLevinson - that sounds like my dad! He was born in 1938, 2 months early, weighed just over 2 lbs. He wasn't expected to survive and slept in a drawer (GPs hadn't bought a cot yet).

He obviously survived and at 72 has 4 children, 8 grandchildren and apart from a yearly case of man flu, is never ill!

Good luck to mum and baby!

Bump

My lovely son was born at 24+1 (1 day after the abortion limit and 1 day over the time when he had a legal right to medical help at birth!) in May09. He weighed 620g (1lb 6oz). There were no level 3 cots in our local hospital, or all of london, and we were transferred to Luton two days before he was born.

It was a very tough time, we were told he would not survive, the doctors were all doom and gloom, but one lovely nurse said that "you're allowed to have hope for him", and that really helped us. Little by little he got stronger, 2 steps forwards and 1 back, and eventually after 5 long months in hospital he came home.

He's on oxygen, but we're weaning off it and so far there are no signs of developmental problems despite two serious brain bleeds. He's such a happy baby, everybody says how pleasant he is, and he's a joy to look after.

For your friend....

• do keep a diary and remember what huge challenges your baby has got past already
• don't worry if the doctors give a negative picture. They love to be proved wrong, and they often are.
• your baby is stronger than you think, they are born fighters.
• do ask about parent accomodation at your babies hospital. Parents from far away might be able to stay for free, either in the hospital or at a sick chidren's trust or ronald mcdonald house. We were terrified at being away from home but it turned out to be positive, we were able to stay much closer to our son than if we were at home!
• for expressing milk, the herb fenugreek helps milk production (you can buy it from holland and barrett) and the stomach medicine domperidone. Ask your GP for some if you're having problems with milk volume.
• don't beat yourself up, its NOT your fault they came early and feeling guilty about it will not help your little one.
• skin to skin cuddles are great as soon as your baby is well enough. At 29 weeks this should be possible now. Did you know that your heart beat and breathing will help your baby to regulate their own breathing and heart rate? And that your chest will heat up or cool down by as much as three degrees Celsius to keep your baby at the right temperature? I found this very encouraging after I felt I'd done a bad job of keeping my baby inside, I could still help provide the best environment for him after he was born.

Best of luck and let us know how your friend and her baby go on.

One of my friends was just over 1lb when she was born. She now works as a nurse on a special care baby ward. Give our best wishes to your friend and congratulations on the new arrival.

Hi Tenacious, it's great your friend has you to count on! She'll need a lot of encouragement right now and a shoulder to cry on when the shock wears off. I was a schoolgirl mum who was in the process of being kicked out of the family home when I had my daughter at 30 weeks.She was in hospital for 5 weeks and did very well- she graduated from university a year earlier than her peers,speaks 4 languages,what can I say! and has had absolutely no problems whatsoever!

Regarding breastfeeding- the hospital I was in (1986!) gave me access to an electric breast pump, then when I went home, the health visitor brought me a smaller version which enabled me to give my daughter my milk in a bottle till she came home.I breastfed her for 10 months!So no worries there for your friend.