29 Weeks

On November the 14th 2006 I wasn't feeling very well. I had been working full time as a hairdresser, working a lot of hours and I had just asked my boss to cut my hours back a bit.

At 29 weeks and 3 days, our daughter, Chloe came into this world totally unexpected. I'd had a routine, healthy pregnancy, no complications and no warning of what was to come.

At 28 weeks I was admitted to Nepean Hospital with severe foetal growth restriction and hypertension. I was told that my baby would be born early and was given steroids to help his lungs.

After having my 3rd baby, Mikey at just 32+3weeks I knew to watch out for the same signs that led up to his early birth, and although I was distracted with my 9yo, 6yo, and 17month old about 2 weeks before Amelia was born I definitely sensed that things were progressing towards another early birth.

At 29 weeks into my pregnancy everything was progressing well, with the only hiccup encountered being a bleed at 6 weeks. Now, with only a little over 2 months to go I was thoroughly enjoying my growing baby bump, prenatal yoga and anticipating the arrival of my 1st child.

I found out I was pregnant with twins on our eldest daughter's 4th birthday. We had been trying to conceive for years so, although very shocked, we were so happy that we were having two babies, and up until my 18 week scan I was feeling really good and I headed off to the scan really excited.

A lot of things took place well before I fell pregnant with Isaac. For starters my husband and I had to decide whether it was something we really wanted to consider, as it was going to mean another complicated pregnancy due to HELLP Syndrome and another premature baby.

After 2 years of trying to conceive having problems we fell pregnant. We had to have a scan at about 7 weeks but the only time I could have the scan was at 6.5 weeks. We were told that there was a chance that there may not be a heartbeat as it may be too early.

First Christmas together: Matilda was born at just 29 weeks, weighing 1413g. After 10 weeks in hospital, Matilda finally went home on the 9th November, 3 days before her due date. 

Tuesday 28th July 2015 is a day I'll never forget! At 11.41am we unexpectedly welcomed Oscar Hamish Murray at only 29+2 weeks gestation. He weighed a tiny 1220g and was 38cm long. 

After a perfect pregnancy, I went to bed on a Sunday night with a sore back which kept getting worse and worse. After calling the hospital they suggested I come in just to be sure. Luckily I did because not long after our little Finn William was born weighing 1600g.

I remember the nurses being so sweet and loving as I cried in fear of what was to come. I had never had an operation, let alone an emergency one, and now my son's life was hanging in the balance.

Hearing my boy cry and getting to have a quick hug - I knew he wouldn’t let anything hold him back.

Isla and her sister Eloise were born in a carefully planned, choreographed operation. Coming out at exactly the same time, holding hands, Isla was the first to announce herself with a small mouse like scream, probably the most beautiful thing we have ever heard.

Eloise had no name for nearly three days because I just could not compute that I actually had to pick a name – I thought I still had months up my sleeve to make the final decision. I wasn’t sleeping, I wasn’t eating and I could barely comprehend what had happened. 

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.

Until you have walked the path of a parent with an extremely ill or premature baby it is difficult to completely understand why the littlest thing is celebrated and never taken for granted.

My husband was pulled aside where the doctors spoke to him about how serious the clots were because they were traveling to my lungs. He was asked the question no husband or father should ever be asked -"if things go wrong who do we work on?"

I didn’t expect her to be born at 29 weeks because my first baby was full-term. I was admitted to the hospital because I was already 2cm. The doctor said they would try to stop my labour and I was given medication to stop the contractions. 

Given I was only 29 weeks pregnant and about to give birth 11 weeks early, the NICU doctors come in to introduce themselves and explain everything to me. They were so informative, they didn’t sugar coat anything, they were upfront and told me what to expect, both best and worst case scenarios.

It was my first week back at work after the Christmas break and I started to get really horrible period type pains. I didn’t think much of it since I remember having plenty of ‘growing pains’ throughout my pregnancy. But that afternoon until the next morning it progressively got worse. I am a first time mum so I didn’t know what labor really felt like.

Watching willow in hospital for 8 weeks was one of the hardest and emotional things I have ever done. I thought I wouldn't be able to do it but we did it. She fought for her life and came out on top. Willow is such a mellow sweet little baby.

We went to get an ultrasound and as the sonographer was doing the scan we saw her face drop. She then went and spoke to the doctor and told us to go back to the hospital as soon as we could. 

At 6:05 and 6:07 on August 30th we welcomed our perfect baby boys into the world. We were parents, our dreams had come true. It was the most joyful day of our entire lives. Due to the boys being born early the journey was far from over.

I was in for observation and some medication to relax my muscles. An hour or so later the pain  intensified and before I knew it - and after reportedly saying it was too early - Nate was born at 29+3.