Today we would like to introduce Little Mr Sam :) Thank you very much for sharing your story Tarnyu Joy This is Sam At 25 weeks pregnant with my first baby I didnt know much about being pregnant but I trusted my instincts and I knew something wasnt right. I had been having waves of uncomfortableness and lost a little blood so I took myself to hospital to check it out, turns out I was 4cm dilated. They tried stopping my contractions but as the pill wore off try would come back, I was given a series of tests and injections, the worst was the magnesium drip! At 25+2 Sam was born weighing 840 grams (a bit of a fatty they called him) the Dr held him up like a skinned rabbit and I could hear little kitten like crys and then He was gone, and I was left feeling shocked, a little ripped of and very afraid for my Wee Man. He was breathing solo and doing great but they decided he was too active and burning too many calories so they sedated him and then he would forget to breath so had to be ventilated he was 8 days old before we got a cuddle. At 2 weeks old he had a PDA Ligation to close the valve in his heart, this led to him having withdrawals from pain relief and staying ventilated and sedated for over 2 weeks. We agreed to the research program that compared CPAP to Optiflow and we were allocated CPAP. I grew to hate it, taking up all that lovely face space and being so intrusive I would get so impatient to just see his face without any tubes! I focused on doing all his cares and learning what all the machines were so I wouldnt have mini heart attacks all day when things went off, and I made friends, best of friends with the other mums in Nicu 2. Sam was so dependent on CPAP they tried steroids and weaning and they got the levels down but he just couldnt do without it completely. The best day was the day he was put in an open cot, from that day on I could kiss my baby boy whenever I wanted. Sam was piling on the weight (takes after Mummy) and slowly but surely worked his way to SCBU 2, he never came off oxygen but the other cords and tubes lessened and he was really taking off with the suck feeds which was fantastic because I had enough milk to feed a small village. We went home on the NED program two weeks before his due date, only just weighing 2kg. He was so house trained it was excellent, great sleeper, great feeder and so quiet! The doctors advised me that his vocal cords had been damaged when he was ventilated and that he would be husky. We have had a few hospital stays since going home for bronchitis but the winter just gone Sam didnt even get a temperature! Ongoing issues are mostly the vocal cord palsy which means Sam has little sensation when swallowing, leaving his airways exposed which leads to slight aspiration (liquid going into his lungs) which gives Sam a nasty wet cough. Its something they hope he will grow out of just like his asthma. Sam is a big brother now to 9 month old Oscar (born at full term) and Im so grateful to say that he displays no other long term affects from his prematurity, he can count to 10, recite the alphabet, eat anything I give him and loves to experiment with what will or will not flush down the toilet. Im not sorry that Sams early birth happened, I learned a lot about my strength, what wonderfully supportive friends and family we have, I made lifelong friends for myself and Sam but most importantly I KNOW my son like I know what he is made of, Ive seen what he can do and Ive got no anxiety about him facing what life will throw at him next.
Posted on: Tue, 04 Nov 2014 00:00:43 +0000
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