Our miracle baby is now a miracle boy! Our Teddy was born over 8 years ago at 28+4 weeks gestation. It seemed to be a fairly easy, complication-free pregnancy until I went into spontaneous labour which could not be stopped.
He arrived into this world after a fairly short labour, with a surprising loud cry and thanks to the fact that the John Hunter hospital is a research hospital, we even managed to delay cord clamping for 1 minute. He was taken straight to the NICU, a place that would become our ‘home’ for the next few months. He was a healthy 1490 grams, quite large for a 28-weeker! He spent weeks on CPAP (bar a short period of needing intubation), managed to take NG feeds well and started gaining weight. We didn’t have time for steroid shots before his birth, but his lungs continued to develop well. We spent about 10 weeks in the NICU and SCN. This time was truly a rollercoaster, some scary moments mixed with times of pure joy and happiness. We felt so supported by family & friends and even more so by the nursing staff and doctors. People we will never forget and tell Teddy about as he grows. Teddy is now 8 years old, and a big brother to his two siblings. He loves soccer, has many friends and is thriving at school. He has no long-term complications from his early delivery and many people are surprised when we tell them he arrived 12 weeks early.
As difficult a time as it was, when we look back now we remember the positives - the small wins, the people we met and we feel grateful that our miracle baby is now our miracle boy.