I know themes have been used in the past for different causes (eating disorders and autism spring to mind) I hope no one minds me adding this one. This year the 17th November is Prematurity Awareness day.
Those people who follow me already know that both my children were born premature. My son was born 11 weeks early, my daughter lasted a little longer but was born 10 weeks early.
I was lucky, although it was a difficult period my children were eventually strong enough to come home and to grow into the beautiful, active children they are.
Other people are not so lucky, whilst my son was in special care I got to know the parents of a beautiful little girl who was born at 32 weeks gestation, 3 weeks later than my son. Unfortunately being on a ventilator caused further, irrepairable damage to her lungs and at nearly 6 months old she was moved from special care to a childrens hospice and died a few weeks later.
There was no reason why my son survived and she didn't. He was frailer and weaker than she was, he was on a ventialtor after his birth too. We were just lucky.
I wanted to make that point because this year 13 million babies will be born prematurely (before 37 weeks gestation). Please take a minute and consider that figure. 13 Million. None of them are guaranteed survival.
Generally the longer a baby can survive in the womb the better it's chances of survival are but nothing is guaranteed.
A babys health can change so suddenly, in the morning you may visit your baby in hospital and all their stats are good then by lunch time they can all drop and the baby can be moved back into intensive care.
It really can be that quick.
I have always enjoyed photography but it was after my son was born that it became an obsession, my way to cope was to take photos of him every single day. I lived in fear that that days photos would be the last I would have.
On 17th November people supporting this day will wear purple, I was wondering if people would like to join me in creating purple themed photos over this week.
If you join in please tag them prematurity-awareness
Theme is open from now unitl 23.59 (GMT) on 17th November.
A friend who has also had premature babies posted the following on facebook which I think sums it up
"Having a preemie means your venture into parenting will not be "normal". You will learn words that many people will never even hear (and thankfully so). You will learn patience you didn't know you were capable of, you will learn true fear and faith. You will be able to change a nappy standing sideways at an incubator, while avoiding wires, tubes, and I.V.s. .You learn that the journey doesn't stop...once they leave the NICU. Your childs pediatrician will become like family because you feel that you are at their office as much as you are home. You will learn that all the books you read on "what to expect" didn't teach you anything that YOU needed to expect, and you are forced to learn as you go. THE most valuable lesson that I learned was just how precious life is, and how fragile it can be. NOV 17 is World Prematurity Day. Please wear purple"
There can be happy endings though, this is my son shortly following his birth and on his first day of school:
If you would like further information about premature births or if you would like to actively support one of charities who try to improve the lives of premature babies and help to prevent the causes of premature birth please look at the following websites:
Bliss http://www.bliss.org.uk/
March of Dimes http://www.marchofdimes.com/
and a much smaller charity which is based locally to me and helps in the neonatal unit where both my babies were cared for: Grace Research Fund http://www.graceresearchfund.org/
I have a similar picture of my daughter. I was induced 5 weeks early because of preclampsia. The doctors said I didn't have an option. Fortunately, I took excellent care of myself and her and she came out at 5lbs 2oz.. Her lungs were still developing and she stayed a week in the hospital. Her eyesight was effected by it but all in all she is a smart and confident young woman with a wicked sense of humor. I'll have to find it and post it soon because her birthday is next month.
I'm in for at least one purple=-heme photo during the week... only I try to avoid the word purple at all costs (sports-related) so I would prefer to have mine be a dark lavender, or plum, or "where red meets blue" themed photo! :)
@jenrobcarr Thank goodness there are hard working people like you Jennifer. I can only imagine how hard your job must be, I know I couldn't do it, and I will always be grateful for the staff who cared for my babies when I couldn't x
Emma, this is a wonderful theme! i don't post many photos of my son because i'm one of those crazy mums worried about the truly weird warts on the butt of humanity who surf the internet. anyway, my son was born at 36 weeks, but was almost born at 32 weeks. he was in distress, not me, as my amniotic fluid was very low. i was given a steroid shot at 32 weeks and told he would be delivered the next day after a second shot. after doing an amnio, however, the docs said his lungs were too underdeveloped for them to deliver him. so i was put in the hospital on bed rest and told that he would be delivered immediately if anything changed. we were fortunate that he could hold on until 36 weeks. He was "growth restricted" and weighed 4.1 pounds. he refused to eat and had to remain in the hospital for 3 weeks and then he was sent home with a feeding tube which he yanked out. he is doing well today although he still has acid reflux and doesn't like like other kids. he was slow to gain weigh and one of my favorite memories is when he was crawling at 5.5 months and weighed less than 10 pounds, he would chase our 22 pound cat down the hall, catch her and sit on her. :)
Thank you for sharing your experiences Laura.
Your "wait and see" 4 weeks sounds very much like mine. I had pre-eclampsia in both pregnancies and in both it was undiagnosed. For my son it reached the point that at 29 weeks I was rushed to hospital with blood pressure of 260/180 and had to have an emergency ceasarean. Following which I was in intensive care, the viens in my legs had burst due to the pressure and it took 3 days to stabilise me.
I was lucky that I went to hospital when I did as I was later told that due to my incredibly high blood pressure the flow of blood through the placenta was restricted and if I had waited another few hours my son would not have survived.
For my second pregnancy despite telling my midwife of my experiences with my son and then contacting her regulalry with concerns as I was experienceing the same symptoms and my blood pressure was high (nurse at work would regularly check it) it was ignored until 26 weeks when at a visit I was told I had never mentioned I had previously had pre-eclampsia, that I had put my babys life at risk and there was nothing more she could do for me as my blood pressure was too high and I would have to go to hospital.
I left in tears to get the bus home, dreading the same experiences as my last pregnancy. I was lucky, my mum drove me to the hospital and after examination I was told that they would have to deliver my daughter before the weekend (this was a wednesday). We managed to eek out those 3 days to another 4 weeks. All of this time I remained in hospital and was monitored it seemed every second of the day.
One nurse said it best "Your health isn't great but the baby is mostly ok, we're waiting for one of you to take a turn for the worse before we deliver"
I was rushed down to the labour ward more times than I can count when they weren't able to stabilise my blood pressure or when my daughter appeared to be struggling but each time after a bit of panic I was taken back up to the maternity ward with another lot of medication to take.
I was also having scans every other day to monitor thinfs. At 27 weeks all of my amniotic fluids disapeared. They didn't break, they didn't leak, they just went, this was yet another thing to monitor and to take into account but we kept plodding on. I had the course of steroid injections and just hoped that my little girl would stay where she was for a few more weeks, just to give her the best chance.
Finally at 30 weeks the scan showed that she had stopped growing and as my blood pressure was increasingly hard to control it was decided she had to come out.
Another caesarean and another tiny baby in a plastic clear box with holes to put your hands through.
She was born at 2lb 6oz and despite having numerous problems with her stomach and digestive system she only lost 0.5oz over her first week.
In comparison my son was born at 2lb 8oz and dropped to 2lb 3oz in his first week.
They both hated their fedign tubes and would pull them out as often as they could.
My daughter also had acid reflux which caused her so much pain during her first year, thankfully this calmed once she was more mobile and able to sit up.
Where as my son seemed to catch up with his age group in terms of size by the timne he was 2 my daughter stayed small and when she was 2 was wearing clothes meant for 9-12month babies.
She's now approxiamtely the average height and size but I still see her as tiny!
I can envisage your son chasing the cat larger than him, what a little fighter!
The image of him sitting on the cat really made me smile!
@emmar84 - wow! you and your babies certainly have fought to be here and i'm glad! premies truly are little miracles come programmed with plenty of spunk. i can't believe the midwife ignored you. :(
i had the same thing happen to my amniotic fluid - just disappeared. when the doc did the amnio to check for lung surfactant, there were only tiny pockets of fluid for him to get. it was really scary, for me and my husband as he was helping guide the doctor to the pockets of fluids. yes, my husband was looking at the ultra sound screen and helping the doc to find a decent pocket of amniotic fluid to draw a bit out. crazy times.
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My niece was 3lbs at birth she has done very well.
She is 4 now and such a blessing!
And here they are today.
First birthday
And all sweet and beautiful pics!
@smevvy I look forward to seeing your purple picture Heather
@terryd2011 Terry, that is a gorgeous collage of your neice and she looks so happy in her birthday photo. Thank youf or sharing them.
@twinsplusone Thats such a beautiful keepsake Sharon and I love their photo, very creative. You are lucky to have such beautiful daughters.
@marilyn I look forward to your bluish-red picture!
@byrdlip From the 1 year photo you would never guess the early arrival!
@scatcat Thank you Muse
@jenrobcarr Thank goodness there are hard working people like you Jennifer. I can only imagine how hard your job must be, I know I couldn't do it, and I will always be grateful for the staff who cared for my babies when I couldn't x
Thank you for sharing your experiences Laura.
Your "wait and see" 4 weeks sounds very much like mine. I had pre-eclampsia in both pregnancies and in both it was undiagnosed. For my son it reached the point that at 29 weeks I was rushed to hospital with blood pressure of 260/180 and had to have an emergency ceasarean. Following which I was in intensive care, the viens in my legs had burst due to the pressure and it took 3 days to stabilise me.
I was lucky that I went to hospital when I did as I was later told that due to my incredibly high blood pressure the flow of blood through the placenta was restricted and if I had waited another few hours my son would not have survived.
For my second pregnancy despite telling my midwife of my experiences with my son and then contacting her regulalry with concerns as I was experienceing the same symptoms and my blood pressure was high (nurse at work would regularly check it) it was ignored until 26 weeks when at a visit I was told I had never mentioned I had previously had pre-eclampsia, that I had put my babys life at risk and there was nothing more she could do for me as my blood pressure was too high and I would have to go to hospital.
I left in tears to get the bus home, dreading the same experiences as my last pregnancy. I was lucky, my mum drove me to the hospital and after examination I was told that they would have to deliver my daughter before the weekend (this was a wednesday). We managed to eek out those 3 days to another 4 weeks. All of this time I remained in hospital and was monitored it seemed every second of the day.
One nurse said it best "Your health isn't great but the baby is mostly ok, we're waiting for one of you to take a turn for the worse before we deliver"
I was rushed down to the labour ward more times than I can count when they weren't able to stabilise my blood pressure or when my daughter appeared to be struggling but each time after a bit of panic I was taken back up to the maternity ward with another lot of medication to take.
I was also having scans every other day to monitor thinfs. At 27 weeks all of my amniotic fluids disapeared. They didn't break, they didn't leak, they just went, this was yet another thing to monitor and to take into account but we kept plodding on. I had the course of steroid injections and just hoped that my little girl would stay where she was for a few more weeks, just to give her the best chance.
Finally at 30 weeks the scan showed that she had stopped growing and as my blood pressure was increasingly hard to control it was decided she had to come out.
Another caesarean and another tiny baby in a plastic clear box with holes to put your hands through.
She was born at 2lb 6oz and despite having numerous problems with her stomach and digestive system she only lost 0.5oz over her first week.
In comparison my son was born at 2lb 8oz and dropped to 2lb 3oz in his first week.
They both hated their fedign tubes and would pull them out as often as they could.
My daughter also had acid reflux which caused her so much pain during her first year, thankfully this calmed once she was more mobile and able to sit up.
Where as my son seemed to catch up with his age group in terms of size by the timne he was 2 my daughter stayed small and when she was 2 was wearing clothes meant for 9-12month babies.
She's now approxiamtely the average height and size but I still see her as tiny!
I can envisage your son chasing the cat larger than him, what a little fighter!
The image of him sitting on the cat really made me smile!
i had the same thing happen to my amniotic fluid - just disappeared. when the doc did the amnio to check for lung surfactant, there were only tiny pockets of fluid for him to get. it was really scary, for me and my husband as he was helping guide the doctor to the pockets of fluids. yes, my husband was looking at the ultra sound screen and helping the doc to find a decent pocket of amniotic fluid to draw a bit out. crazy times.