Miracle Mum, Angela wasn't sure what to expect with her pregnancy with Ashton, as she had both full term and premature births with her other children. She shares the story of Ashton's arrival and his sheer determination and strength.

"Having had two full term babies in my first two pregnancies, followed by a 30 weeker, I knew there was a chance my fourth pregnancy could result in another premature labour. Besides finding out I was expecting whilst in hospital with meningitis, our pregnancy was uneventful until 29 weeks when I spontaneously went into labour late one night.

I was so sure that it wasn’t labour that I sent my husband home from the hospital at 11pm to sleep and went to sleep myself, only to wake at 2 am in loads of pain. By 7am Ashton was in distress and the doctors had decided to deliver via emergency caesarean section, as I had had three previous c-sections. Scott, my husband, was called and he only just made it in time for the delivery. It was hectic and scary.

At the time of Ashton’s birth there was silence and I was terrified not to hear his cries. He was ventilated and whisked past me, all I could manage was a fleeting look.

From that day Ashton has gone from strength to strength, slowly improving and moving onto CPAP and then to room air. We also had our set backs, feeding was tricky and Ashton was slow to work it out. But finally 3 weeks before his due date, Ashton came home. Eight long weeks of living between Ashton in hospital and our other kids at home were over.

Since that day Ashton has thrived and will turn four this Friday. When I look at him and think about how far he has come I can’t help but stand in awe of his determination and strength."

Thank you Angela for sharing your story.

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