My Story
Denise Ferns and her little baby Lucy
I was on my way to work on the Nangor Road, Dublin when my labour pains started - 15 weeks early. My baby Lucy was born at just 25 weeks, weighing a tiny 1lb 15oz. She was so tiny her dad's wedding ring could slip right to the top of her arm. I had no idea as to what lay ahead for us as a family, and in particular what little Lucy had to go through. She picked up various serious infections and was breathing with the help of a ventilator for 90 days, things were very much touch and go. At three weeks we found out that Lucy had a heart problem called patent ductus arteriosus and she was operated on at Our Lady's Hospital for Sick Children in Crumlin. Doctors then detected a condition known as retinopathy of prematurity which is common among premature babies and can sometimes require laser eye surgery. Thankfully surgery in Lucy's right eye was successful but the lens of her left eye had to be removed. Lucy now wears a contact lens in her left eye which requires ongoing monitoring.
In total Lucy was in hospital for 110 days.
www.prematurebaby.ie is a wonderful outlet for mums and dads who find themselves in a similar situation and offers help and advise and information on what to expect - not only in hospital but also when you return home and going forward.
Catherine and baby Jessica (born on 20th April 2008 at 24 weeks and 5 days weighing 1.8 lb)
At the time I was extremely surprised, shocked, emotional, overwhelmed and in great distress. It was a major emotional rollercoaster from when I was brought into hospital, to when Jessica was born, her stay there and taking her home.
When I started to dilate, I was at work and I never realised what was happening as I heard that pressure is normal during pregnancy. I had no bleeding to worry me. When I did bleed, I was convinced it was just a kidney infection because of the pressure. I was admitted straight away for a stitch, to prevent further dilation but unfortunately after a few days it had to be removed due to the risk of infection. We were told to expect the worst and that I would give birth as soon as the stitch was removed.
Thankfully this did not happen and I was confined to bed-rest and administered steroid injections. However, eight days later I went into labour. The doctors tried to slow it down and stop it but Jessica was too nosey and wanted to come into the world to see what all the fuss was about!
Jessica spent 84 days in hospital. We were given a good bit of information from the doctors but nothing ever really prepares you for the sight of your tiny little baby with tubes, ventilators and monitors attached to them. It was extremely scary and there were many ups and downs. When Jessica finally came home to us, it was the best day of our lives, she was finally ours to call our own.
The staff were amazingly brilliant, helpful and always sympathetic and we really got to know a lot of them on a personal level too. At the same time, getting Jessica home meant each special day was ours only to share.
www.prematurebaby.ie was brilliant, I found it so useful, especially for all the terms I didn't quite understand. It gave me information on different aspects of daily life in the NICU and made me more confident, knowing that some things were normal so I didn't have to panic so much.
The nurses and doctors were a brilliant source of information as well. They taught us how to care for such a small human being and guided us along the scary path that was the neonatal unit. It goes without saying, we would have been lost without them. Jessica is doing fantastically and her appointments have completely slowed down, some of them have even stopped. She's now a happy, healthy one and a half year old!
Bairbre and baby Billy (born on 1st March 2009 at 26 weeks weighing 1.14lb)
The start of our Journey was in late November 2008, when we had our 12 week scan and saw our little man for the first time. A few days later I had a bleed and thought it was all over for us. At sixteen weeks I started to loose some of the amniotic fluid and it varied week to week until at 24 weeks I lost all of the fluid.
When I started to loose the fluid our gynecologist (and our rock through it all) told us we would almost definitely have a premature birth. So to prepare ourselves we were lucky to have www.prematurebaby.ie. as a source of information, which was a huge help.
I stayed in hospital for two weeks and gave birth to Billy at 26 weeks. It was a very scary and heart wrenching experience and we found the journey to his birth a very helpless and lonely time. It really was a waiting game and that was the hardest part, the not knowing, but as long as we had hope we tried to remain as positive as we could. After he was born, it was very touch and go for Billy as his little lungs had been very affected by the loss of fluid but thankfully due to the amazing work of the team at the Coombe, Billy won his Battle.
The Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) with all the wonderful staff became his home and he lived in an incubator for a long time. Billy was on a ventilator for 31 days. He went for a Patent ductus arteriosus (PDA) operation in Crumlin Hospital and had a great recovery from then on. We brought him home one day before his due date, that was the happiest day of our lives.
Lynn and baby Katie (born on 4th June 2009 at 32 weeks and 3 days weighing 3.1lb)
I had high blood pressure from 27 weeks and traces of protein in my urine from 30 weeks. I was then told that I had pre-eclampsia and that I wouldn’t go to full term. This was a shock as I had a great pregnancy and still felt great!
It was at 30 weeks and 3 days that I was first admitted to hospital to get the steroid injections to help the baby’s lungs. I was in and out of hospital for the next two weeks, being kept in for a few nights then let home only to be readmitted again. At 32 weeks I had a growth scan that showed that the baby hadn’t put on weight so I was kept in again. They told me that I would have to stay in hospital for the next few weeks until they could deliver the baby.
On Thursday 4th June my blood pressure was up again and the medication could not control it. I was reviewed by the doctor, who put me on an IV medication, then a few minutes later, he said that they would have to deliver the baby. I was shocked and didn’t really believe it. The hospital offered to ring my husband and I knew by their faces that it was serious.
It was very frightening there were so many doctors and nurses around me. Katie was delivered by emergency c-section at 10.35pm that night. It all happened so fast. We only saw Katie for a second before she was taken up to the Special Care Baby Unit (SCBU). She was tiny and had such a little cry. I was kept in recovery for 24 hours and then moved to a ward. That was very hard as I couldn’t see Katie and was convinced that they were keeping something from me. My husband spent time with her and so did my parents, I didn’t want her to be alone.
I finally got to see her at lunchtime on Saturday. It was very scary as she was attached to so many wires, needles, tubes and monitors. I got to hold her that evening and it was amazing, she was so small but so perfect. Katie was on Continuous Positive Airway Pressure (CPAP) for one week then she was moved to the NICU too, which was a relief. We were lucky because Katie didn’t have anything wrong with her so she just needed to get bigger and stronger. She had problems with digesting her feeds so we had to take it very slowly, sometimes it felt like 1 step forward and 2 steps back. She was 33 days in hospital.
There was great help and support available in the hospital. We were given leaflets on feeding, expressing, weaning and vaccinations. All our questions were answered, we were shown how to bath her, we were sent to Cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) classes. I also found www.prematurebaby.ie really useful and helpful as it helped me get ready to bring Katie home.
Katie is doing great now, she is very alert and watches everything! She still has a few problems with digestion and wind but it is getting better day by day. We go to baby massage sessions and that really helps. She is putting on weight and getting so big, everyone else thinks she’s tiny but we think she’s so big!
