Gestation of birth: 26 weeks and 3 days
Gestation you were told/knew baby would be early: I went into labour at 24 weeks and 6 days and was rushed to hospital with contractions 5 mins apart with cervix 3cm dilated. I was put on a drip to stop contractions and remained on labour suite until they stopped 48 hours later ... I then stood up and my waters broke! Despite this I didn't give birth for another 8 days, which I spent on the maternity ward, being monitored around the clock.
Reason for premature labour/birth: I wish I knew and so do the doctors! Baby was in good health and so was I.
Sex: Female
Weight: 1lb 13oz
Delivery (Vaginal/C-section): Vaginal, 9 hour labour, gas & air
How long in special care and where (NICU/SCBU): NICU. I gave birth to her on 25th April 2018, so currently 83 days and counting. We're aiming for a discharge date of 26th July, which will take me to 93 days, but which point she will be 3 day shy of her due date.
Weight on discharge: She's currently 5lb 7oz.
Problems after birth:
Baby -
When she was 3 days old the feeding tube in her stomach migrated and started pumping food outside of her stomach - it was so rare for this to happen it wasn't diagnosed for 16 hours (consultant had only seen this occur twice in his 20 year career) during which time her entire body swelled up, her heart rate escalated to 220bpm, her blood pressure dropped dangerously low and we were told to expect the worst. A specialist surgeon was rushed in from another hospital and he managed to operate and drain the fluid, but by this point the strain on her organs caused kidney failure and again we were told she wasn't going to make it. Cue the neonatal team trying everything the could to balance a cocktail of medications, hampered by the fact she didn't pass urine for over a week, so her fluid balance was building up. When they eventually stabilised her and removed the surgical drain (fashioned out of the finger of a surgical glove because she was too small for anything else) her bowel then pushed its way out through the hole and she required more emergency surgery to put it back in. She was then diagnosed with ROP (retinopathy of prematurity) where her eyes had been exposed to light before they could cope with it, causing the blood vessels behind the retina to mutate. If this had been left untreated she would most probably have suffered detached retinas and gone blind. Laster eye surgery prevented this just in time but then as she was recovering she developed pneumonia! She was on the high dependency ward of NICU for almost 2 months and for the last month she has been on the low dependency ward, moving from an incubator into a cot. She progressed from being ventilated to bipap to cpap to a nasal cannula. As of Sunday she is finally tube free and breathing air unaided. She still has some issues with feed related oxygen saturation, which need to be ironed out before we take her home. Who knows what lays ahead, but so far, no lasting damage appears evident. I'm proud to have such a resilient and feisty daughter and I can't wait to see the young woman she becomes.
Mum - As someone who suffers from anxiety, it's surprising how quickly I adjusted to untold levels to stress, simply because I had no choice other than to be strong for my daughter. I found the limitations of staying in the hospital tough and at first felt incredibly guilty if I was away from her incubator for more than 5 minutes, but over time I realised I needed to start taking breaks to go out for a coffee with friends / nip home to sort things for the sake of my own sanity. When she was 7 weeks old my husband had to go back to work and we moved back home, 20 minutes away. I now spend all day on the unit doing her feeds, nappy changes and having skin to skin with her and then my husband takes over in the evenings after work. It really helps that he's so supportive and it's been great to get to know the other mums on the ward - I've no doubt I've made some lifelong friendships over the past 3 months. The never ending rotation of neonatal staff has proven a drain. While the majority are incredibly caring and have worked tirelessly to support us, there are been a vast disparity between the approach of the various consultants –some have tried to push her discharge too fast a and I've really had to dig my heels in at times and go with my mother's instinct, even if that's meant I've been branded difficult! I've been so preoccupied with trying to hold the practicalities together that I still don't think I've had time to take stock and have a good cry, but I've no doubt that will happen when we finally get her home.
I think my story is an extreme case and it's perhaps not what you want to hear, but I'm optimistic that we're over the worst and despite everything, I'm feeling positive about the future. Good luck, OP.