Miracle Mum, Emma was a first-time mum when she started getting terrible period type pains. She shares the story of baby Dominic's arrival.

"My little fighter was born at 29+2 weeks. To this day no one knows why I went into pre-term labour. It was my first week back at work after the Christmas break and on the Friday as I was leaving I started to get horrible period type pains. I didn’t think much of it since I remember having plenty of ‘growing pains’ throughout my pregnancy. But from that afternoon until the next morning it progressively got worse. I am a first-time mum so I didn’t know what labour was meant to feel like.

As soon as I noticed some spotting, my partner drove me straight to the hospital at 3am after having no sleep. There, I was told I was 3cm dilated and my waters were bulging. My heart sank. But I tried remaining positive as I was taken in an ambulance to the Mater Hospital where there is a NICU. That morning was Australia Day and I thought that is when he or she would make their appearance. When I arrived I was monitored the entire time and given steroid and magnesium injections.

Two days had passed since arriving at the hospital, however the contractions were still on and off. It came to Monday afternoon and I felt like things were settling down again - I even told my partner to go back home to get his work uniform for the next day since I thought I’d still be pregnant another night. Then at 6pm that night my Obstetrician came in and said ‘okay, you are 8cm dilated, the baby is coming tonight’.

My partner arrived at 7pm and was the first to announce ‘it’s a boy’ at 7:35pm, when our little man let out his first cry. He weighed 1512 grams. Dominic spent exactly 8 weeks in hospital and we finally took him home at 37 weeks, only just making it off oxygen during the last few days in SCN. He left hospital with a PDA (open duct on his heart) which he will have a procedure for in the next few months to have it fixed.

He is now almost 9 months old and just over 6 months corrected. He has met his corrected milestones on time or even earlier than what was expected from him. It was a rocky start for us in becoming new parents, but Dominic has made our heart so full and keeps us extremely busy! Never underestimate a premmie, they truly are the definition of a fighter."

Thank you, Emma for sharing your story.

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