Early arrival

Some of you may  remember that back in March I shared my news that I was to become a grandmother.  I was beyond excited as this would be our first grandchild and baby was due in November.  At the time my son and his squadron were based down in Salisbury following the aftermath of what has become known as the Russian affair.  Because of this it meant his partner spent a lot of time on her own.  Luckily she has a very supportive family close by and I visit as often as I can.

It was after such a visit with my daughter for a girlie weekend that things went a little crazy.  We had, had a lovely relaxed weekend which included heading into their local town for a bit of baby prep retail therapy.  Much to my son's partner's amusement as this included buying all the necessities for going into hospital.

After dropping my daughter off home I arrived home around 10.30 in the evening and after a quick catch up with the bearded one and a much needed cup of tea I headed off to bed.   As my head was about to hit the pillow my phone signalled I had a text message.  I sat back up thinking  I'm sure I sent a text to both girls informing them I had reached home safe and sound,  as I do get told off when I forget just the same as they do.  The message was from my son's partner saying 'if you are still awake could you please call me'.  I duly called her and she said that after we had left she had not felt quite right.  She had spoken with the out of hours Gp and they advised she should go to her local maternity unit.  Upon arrival she thought it would be a quick check over make sure that baby was behaving and back home before midnight.  On speaking to her it appeared she was going into premature labour and her poor mum had rushed back to their house to grab the bag that we had only packed that afternoon. At this point she was almost 26 weeks.  She informed me that she was to be blue lighted to the nearest hospital with a NICU bed available for babies under 30 weeks gestation.  Her main concern was to get my son back from Salisbury which is 3-4 hour drive from their home.  On that score she need not have worried as by the time I spoke to him he had already spoken with his Sargent and was put in a car and driven back to Suffolk arriving at the hospital in the early hours of the morning.  I don't think any of us got much sleep that night but by the morning they had managed to stop labour but were monitoring her closely.  Little baby was still at this time playing fantasy football inside his mummy and the doctors didn't seem to have any major concerns about him, but had started preparing him for arriving early by giving mum steroids for his lungs and extra fluids for his brain.  For the next 48 hours things went a little quiet and we were hopeful that things would settle back down at least for a couple more weeks. Unfortunately by the Wednesday labour had started again and this time things were progressing rather quickly and they were unable to stop the labour.

Our little grandson Freddie arrived on Wednesday 8th August at 12.20 in the afternoon weighing 866g, not even a bag of sugar bless him, but he came out with arms and legs flaying and soon found his voice much to everyone's relief.  They were told that the first 48 hours would be critical and every day after that a bonus.

He was so tiny that even the smallest knitted hats I made were still too big. 

The first weeks of his life were spent in an incubator and at the beginning these little bonding triangles were the only skin to skin contact he could have with his mummy. I made several batches of these in very bright colours so after they had been washed she would know which ones belonged to Freddie. He even had a trip down to Great Ormond Street Hospital in London for a procedure. I don't think either of them dared to hope everything would be alright for at least the first 6 weeks.  I am so incredibly proud in the way my son and his partner have coped.  They are still only in their 20's and to me at least, have dealt with this whole situation so amazingly well and should be very proud of themselves. 

There were several occasions when he was put under the lamp for jaundice although he teetered on the threshold for requiring treatment.  He looked so funny with the mask over his little eyes. We said he looked like he was on a spa day or heading to the disco.

At 8 weeks he upgraded to a cot within the NICU unit and classed as high dependence rather than intensive care.   He is now 10 weeks old and doing so well that I felt able to share our news with you. He still has away to go before he can go home with his mummy, daddy and Ralph Cat, but his mummy and daddy have been working very hard to get his room ready for when he does come home. 

    

Even I have had a job to do.  This old chest of draws was in need of a little TLC before its upcycling transformation, using  Rustoleum chalk paint in Winter Grey and sealed with their finishing wax.

It has been an incredibly worrying time for all the family but I finally feel we are seeing the light at the end of the tunnel for this little one and I will finally get to have my grandma cuddles.

Saturday 17th November is  World Prematurity Day and you can find out more about this here on the BLISS website. I was amazed to learn that around 15 million premature babies are born around the world each year and sadly is still the biggest cause of death in the under 5's.  Those babies born at 26 weeks like our Freddie now  have a 95% chance of surviving. My own sister, now in her 40's was born at 28 weeks and we were told she only had a 50% chance of survival.  Babies as young as 23 weeks are now surviving, so it just goes to show how far the medical teams and the research into premature birth has come.

This week marks Baby loss week and  many have been lighting candles for those little ones who could not stay.    I never thought as a family we would find ourselves in this situation but I am so grateful that we have had such support from the medical staff who have been looking after our beautiful boy.  He is truly a little fighter and our little miracle.

Mx