Category: Prematurity

Prematurity wasn’t a topic I ever thought I’d be covering on my blog. Our first baby arrived almost on his due date so when we fell pregnant again we didn’t think he would be any different. His due date was in January and so we assumed we’d have until after Christmas to get everything sorted. Little did we know that he was planning on making an early entrance!

At 8 weeks early we were thrown into the world of prematurity, one that we had no experience or knowledge of previously. He came due to Group B Strep and an infection occurring after my waters broke at 30 weeks so even though we had the heads up that he would be arriving sooner, we were still left in shock and in limbo. My blogs on prematurity cover everything we felt, everything we went through and tips to help other parents who may be going through the same thing. There was so much I wish I’d known beforehand and I wanted to cover these so I could perhaps help another couple where we had been left clueless.

Prematurity is scary and it is tough but premature babies are just the best!

London little lights walk, 5 lanterns walking across London

Support World Prematurity Day with Bliss London Little Lights Walk

Posted on by Emma Reed

World Prematurity Day is a global movement to raise awareness of premature birth and the sometimes devastating impact it can have on families. On 17 November, Bliss comes together with partners from around the world to talk about premature birth in their countries and to try and take action on behalf of the 15 million babies born early every year.

This year Bliss will be marking this day with their London Little Lights Walk but before I get into that I’d like to share my own story of prematurity with you and explain why this charity is so important… Continue reading “Support World Prematurity Day with Bliss London Little Lights Walk” →

preemie baby in an incubator

The Bittersweet Side of Becoming a Preemie Parent

Posted on by Emma Reed

I have held off writing this for a quite a while for a couple of reasons really. 1 I felt that I had covered quite a bit on prematurity and sometimes it really can sound like you are always being quite negative (without meaning to but until you’ve been in these shoes it can be difficult to understand where it is all coming from) and 2 because it is still painful to think about certain aspects and to reflect on how those moments made me feel. Continue reading “The Bittersweet Side of Becoming a Preemie Parent” →

Jake with baby

How to Help Your Child Cope with Having a Sibling in NICU

Posted on by Emma Reed

I was recently contacted by a Mother asking me if I had written a post on how to help your child cope with having their sibling in NICU. I hadn’t even thought about this as a blog topic but also couldn’t believe I had overlooked it! Through the emotions, the tiredness, the back and forth to the hospital, I had constantly thought about our baby and writing about his journey yet the other superstar hasn’t had a mention, and he definitely deserves one.  Continue reading “How to Help Your Child Cope with Having a Sibling in NICU” →

preemie parent, 3 pictures of prem baby

The First Six Months as a Preemie Parent

Posted on by Emma Reed

Six months have somehow passed since our little ‘dinks’ arrived prematurely into our world and I cannot believe it. At times it still feels as though it was only last week that I was back and forth to the hospital, having emotional breakdowns, longing for my baby to be able to come home, yet here we are months later, sitting at home with a very happy and healthy little boy who has come on leaps and bounds. Becoming a preemie parent has been an eye-opener and a very different journey to having a full-term baby and I know I am incredibly lucky that my boy is here safe and well…

Continue reading “The First Six Months as a Preemie Parent” →

preemie baby in a cot

55 Things a Preemie Parent Doesn’t Want to Hear (and tips on what to say and do)

Posted on by Emma Reed

When you become a preemie parent your entire newborn journey alters. You are thrown into a world that is scary, upsetting, unnerving and completely unpredictable. You lose all those firsts that should experience and you return home without your baby.

Even after your baby does come home, times can be tough and not all stories are straightforward. Whatever the situation is, those parents require support both emotional and physical. They need people to understand what they are going through and, most importantly, they need these people to be saying and asking the right things. Unfortunately, there are a lot of (ahem) Continue reading “55 Things a Preemie Parent Doesn’t Want to Hear (and tips on what to say and do)” →

Breastfeeding and Prematurity

Posted on by Emma Reed

One thing I always knew I wanted to do as a Mother was to be able to breastfeed my babies. I managed easily with my first born and he fed from me for 9 months– until he developed far too many teeth and learnt to bite! This time around, it was a no-brainer, breastfeed again and hopefully for longer. There were for 2 reasons for this, 1 because I loved the connection that breastfeeding brought me and my baby and 2 it’s free and so convenient.

What I didn’t envisage happening was Continue reading “Breastfeeding and Prematurity” →

family in nicu

How Can You Support A Family With A Baby In NICU?

Posted on by Emma Reed

It can be difficult for people to know what the right things to say or do when a family welcome a baby prematurely. I must admit that before we had William I was pretty clueless about the ins and outs of NICU life and even though I have known of couples who have had a baby pre-term it felt as though if I asked lots of questions I may have seemed as though I was prying and I didn’t want to offend by asking the wrong thing. Now I have been in those shoes I know what a scary, lonely time it can be and for me, I found talking helped. I think we can all be a little too polite at times and perhaps if we spoke about situations a little more we could all offer and receive more help and support.

So, what does a family with a baby in NICU need and how can you provide that support? Continue reading “How Can You Support A Family With A Baby In NICU?” →