ophelias mumm
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ophelias story born 10/9/10 weighing 576 grams
It was my 25 week routine midwife appointment when concerns began. i had been complaining about my hands n feet swelling on my last couple of appointments, and my midwife had noticed my blood pressure was slowly getting higher at each appointment. so she decided to send me up to the assessment centre at lincoln county hospital. here they repeated my bp and it was still high, she tested my urine and it had a slight trace of protein, along with my swelling and tiredness i was told i had the symptoms of pre-eclampsia but it was rare to get serious at such an early gestation so i was told i would probably be kept in for a few days then sent home.
On the ward ophelia was put on a monitor and at this point everything seemed fine, my bump was then measured by a midwife who was only measuring me at 19 weeks, concerned she wasn't measuring me correctly she got a 2nd opinion, again she only got 19 weeks, 6 weeks smaller than i should be, at this point i wasn't to concerned and they sent me down for an emergency scan.
As ophelia came up on the screen and the measurements came up i could see she was measuring small and i started to worry something was wrong, she then scanned over my placenta so we could see the blood flow going to ophelia, it should be a constent flow, but it was blood no blood, blood no blood another sign of pre-eclampsia, i burst into tears and was absolutely devastated from that second i thought that was it!! I new i wouldn't be going home until i had delivered ophelia at this point, it turned out my trip to the midwife and shopping had become a long one.
We went back up to the ward and i was moved into a side room i didn't want anyone else asking about my baby. here they kept monitoring ophelias movement and heartbeat it was not quite right, and i was constantly having to do a urinalysis and my protein just kept going up, so they decided to give me 2 steroid injections to try and mature ophelias lungs, they new she was going to be premature it was just how long they could keep me stable.
It was on the 5th september my birthday i began to feel extremely poorly and began to get awful pains in my kidneys, i had never felt so ill even though i tried not to show it i just wanted to keep ophelia safe, i was taken up to labour ward incase i had to deliver, they then had to try and stabalise me and my blood pressure ready to be transferred out.
After a very uncomfortable night, the next day they managed to stabalise me and had to use this window to transfer me out to a hospital that could give ophelia the best care possible when she was born because she was going to be so early, the nearest hospital that had a bed for me and a space for ophelia when she was born was the jessop wing at sheffield. As soon as they new the beds where there for us transport was arranged and i was blue lighted there.
When we arrived i was taken to the high dependency unit, here i was on a cocktail of medication, was having my bloods done 6 times a day and my bp was taken every 15 mins 24 hrs a day, and again i was constantly peeing into a bottle for uranalysis. still my protein was rising in my urine, and my bloods where now showing my platelets where dropping, which is what helps your blood to clot. but still they battled to keep me stable because everyday ophelia was inside me gave her a better chance of survival.
While in sheffield i was taken down for a much more detailed scan, it was bad news at that time ophelia was doing the right thing and sending most of the blood to her brain and liver to keep herself alive, but i was told it was just a matter of time before this stopped and they could listen in any day and her heartbeat would be gone, i was told ophelia was very small for her gestation and her chance of survival really was minimal and to prepare for the worst.
I will never forget the morning of 10th september 2010, everyone was being offered breakfast but me i burst into tears and just new they was going to deliver, i text lee to get to the hospital straightaway and as he arrived the doctors came up to the end of my bed and told me i was going down for an emergency c-section because my platelets where dropping rapidly in my blood and if they left it any longer they couldn't operate because i would bleed to death in theatre and we could both die, i cried so much and begged them to keep her inside me a little longer, i didn't want to lose my little princess i was only 26 weeks, i didn't care about me.
While laying on the theatre table i remember thinking that this should of been the happiest time of mine and lees life but instead all i could think about was our little girl was going to die. As they pulled ophelia out lee got a quick glance as she was rushed past, he said she was like a little chicken fillet rolled in a ball, so small!! then all of a sudden we heard a lil cry from the next room, the most amazing sound ever as we was told she more than likely would not cry. I was told they had not rushed ophelia off and that was a good sign and her having a lil cry showed fighting spirit from the start, they even let lee pop his head in for a little peek. ophelia was born weighing just 576 grams (1lb 4ozs). When i came out of theatre lee got to go to scbu after a couple of hours and see ophelia, he took me some photos but he said they just don't do her justice he said she was unbelieveably small.
It was almost 2 days before i got to go and see ophelia because i was still to poorly, i had to nearly beg, i will never forget the 1st time i looked at her, i just couldn't imagine someone so small could survive! she was so teeny but so perfect, she really was gorgeous! And this was the start of our incredible journey!
Ophelia had a real rocky time, she was ventilated for a week then put onto si pap, her oxygen requirements kept going up and down it was so scary. she was put under the uv lights several times to be treated for jaundice, her left lung collapsed, she had a bleed on the brain, her haemoglobin kept dropping in her blood so blood transfusions became regular. We got involved as much as we could we did all of ophelias cares religiously and i was expressing milk for her, it was these little things that made us feel like she was ours and we was a mummy and daddy. All the little things you take for granted with a newborn where like huge milestones to us, just getting to hold her hand and and actually change her nappy felt amazing and huge acheivements.
Most people get to hold their babies straightaway, but it was 9 days before i got to hold our princess, i begged them to let me have some kangaroo care, they said i could have her out for 10 minutes then she would have to go back so she didnt' get too cold. I will never ever forget that 1st cuddle, it was overwhelming, putting our tiny girl down my top she was so delicate only about the size of a redbull can, and her head looked too big for her body because it was her brain that had kept developing to keep her alive, we got our 1st family photo and it felt absolutely surreal!!
After 3 weeks in sheffield nocton ward in lincoln decided because ophelia was doing well she could be transferred back before 30 weeks gestation, this was great news meaning we could be closer to family and friends and have more support. While in nocton ward ophelia still had lots of ups and downs she was on si pap for what seemed like forever she was tried on high flow several times till 4th time lucky she coped, was finally starting to feel like we was getting somewhere although her oxygen requirement was still very high. After 2 more blood transfusions, 6 in total it felt like we was starting to get somewhere, ophelia began to make her own haemoglobin and her oxygen requirement extremely slowly began to come down.
We was so proud of ophelia, she had done amazing and everytime she was knocked back with infections she would come back fighting twice as hard, she had 3 s.p.a procedures done, this is a needle that goes through the stomach into the bladder to take fresh urine to get a true result for infection, each time with no pain relief she was so brave. ophelia amazingly passed both her eye tests and he said her eyes where perfect, which was fab news with all the oxygen she was on (this can affect babies eyes), she then had her hearing test, again this was perfect which was great news because when babies are ventilated for over 5 days their hearing can be affected.
We was told ophelia would probably be home january time and to expect to be taking her home on oxygen. but oh no our little fighter had other ideas she wanted to be home for santa. Ophelia exceeded everyones expectations and came home 2 days after her due date on the 15th december after a very long 14weeks in hospital, and even better she came home oxygen free and weighing 5lb 3ozs. I wil never forget that day it was amazing, that moment when the doctors said we could leave i didn't know what to do, i didn't believe them, i thought that day would just never come but when i realised they really did mean we could take ophelia home i was almost running out of the door with her.
Getting ophelia home was surreal, but it was a great feeling after been in hospital for so long it was like my home i hated leaving ophelia even to go and eat, it took me a while for it to sink in this was my miracle and she was finally home, i honestly felt this day would never happen, there was no longer nurses to help, i was ophelias mummy and had to care for her and love her and protect her, wow i really couldn't belive ophelia survived an absolute miracle!!!
Ophelia is now 26 weeks old and weighs 8lb 9ozs, she is doing amazing, shes had a chest infection and a couple of colds but we have managed to keep her out of hospital even though we was told babies that are severely premature like ophelia usually end up back in hospital over winter months, but not our fighter! shes now smiling away and babbles away to us, she lifts her head off the ground and absolutely loves the bath, and just started to wean her.
Ophelia really is a true example that the little 1s are fighters to, and she was meant to be im so proud to be her mummy, she maybe teeny but shes a fiesty lil thing, and i simply can't imagine what it would of been like if she didn't survive, i love her more than i ever new possible, will she get a little brother or sister...... we will see
It was my 25 week routine midwife appointment when concerns began. i had been complaining about my hands n feet swelling on my last couple of appointments, and my midwife had noticed my blood pressure was slowly getting higher at each appointment. so she decided to send me up to the assessment centre at lincoln county hospital. here they repeated my bp and it was still high, she tested my urine and it had a slight trace of protein, along with my swelling and tiredness i was told i had the symptoms of pre-eclampsia but it was rare to get serious at such an early gestation so i was told i would probably be kept in for a few days then sent home.
On the ward ophelia was put on a monitor and at this point everything seemed fine, my bump was then measured by a midwife who was only measuring me at 19 weeks, concerned she wasn't measuring me correctly she got a 2nd opinion, again she only got 19 weeks, 6 weeks smaller than i should be, at this point i wasn't to concerned and they sent me down for an emergency scan.
As ophelia came up on the screen and the measurements came up i could see she was measuring small and i started to worry something was wrong, she then scanned over my placenta so we could see the blood flow going to ophelia, it should be a constent flow, but it was blood no blood, blood no blood another sign of pre-eclampsia, i burst into tears and was absolutely devastated from that second i thought that was it!! I new i wouldn't be going home until i had delivered ophelia at this point, it turned out my trip to the midwife and shopping had become a long one.
We went back up to the ward and i was moved into a side room i didn't want anyone else asking about my baby. here they kept monitoring ophelias movement and heartbeat it was not quite right, and i was constantly having to do a urinalysis and my protein just kept going up, so they decided to give me 2 steroid injections to try and mature ophelias lungs, they new she was going to be premature it was just how long they could keep me stable.
It was on the 5th september my birthday i began to feel extremely poorly and began to get awful pains in my kidneys, i had never felt so ill even though i tried not to show it i just wanted to keep ophelia safe, i was taken up to labour ward incase i had to deliver, they then had to try and stabalise me and my blood pressure ready to be transferred out.
After a very uncomfortable night, the next day they managed to stabalise me and had to use this window to transfer me out to a hospital that could give ophelia the best care possible when she was born because she was going to be so early, the nearest hospital that had a bed for me and a space for ophelia when she was born was the jessop wing at sheffield. As soon as they new the beds where there for us transport was arranged and i was blue lighted there.
When we arrived i was taken to the high dependency unit, here i was on a cocktail of medication, was having my bloods done 6 times a day and my bp was taken every 15 mins 24 hrs a day, and again i was constantly peeing into a bottle for uranalysis. still my protein was rising in my urine, and my bloods where now showing my platelets where dropping, which is what helps your blood to clot. but still they battled to keep me stable because everyday ophelia was inside me gave her a better chance of survival.
While in sheffield i was taken down for a much more detailed scan, it was bad news at that time ophelia was doing the right thing and sending most of the blood to her brain and liver to keep herself alive, but i was told it was just a matter of time before this stopped and they could listen in any day and her heartbeat would be gone, i was told ophelia was very small for her gestation and her chance of survival really was minimal and to prepare for the worst.
I will never forget the morning of 10th september 2010, everyone was being offered breakfast but me i burst into tears and just new they was going to deliver, i text lee to get to the hospital straightaway and as he arrived the doctors came up to the end of my bed and told me i was going down for an emergency c-section because my platelets where dropping rapidly in my blood and if they left it any longer they couldn't operate because i would bleed to death in theatre and we could both die, i cried so much and begged them to keep her inside me a little longer, i didn't want to lose my little princess i was only 26 weeks, i didn't care about me.
While laying on the theatre table i remember thinking that this should of been the happiest time of mine and lees life but instead all i could think about was our little girl was going to die. As they pulled ophelia out lee got a quick glance as she was rushed past, he said she was like a little chicken fillet rolled in a ball, so small!! then all of a sudden we heard a lil cry from the next room, the most amazing sound ever as we was told she more than likely would not cry. I was told they had not rushed ophelia off and that was a good sign and her having a lil cry showed fighting spirit from the start, they even let lee pop his head in for a little peek. ophelia was born weighing just 576 grams (1lb 4ozs). When i came out of theatre lee got to go to scbu after a couple of hours and see ophelia, he took me some photos but he said they just don't do her justice he said she was unbelieveably small.
It was almost 2 days before i got to go and see ophelia because i was still to poorly, i had to nearly beg, i will never forget the 1st time i looked at her, i just couldn't imagine someone so small could survive! she was so teeny but so perfect, she really was gorgeous! And this was the start of our incredible journey!
Ophelia had a real rocky time, she was ventilated for a week then put onto si pap, her oxygen requirements kept going up and down it was so scary. she was put under the uv lights several times to be treated for jaundice, her left lung collapsed, she had a bleed on the brain, her haemoglobin kept dropping in her blood so blood transfusions became regular. We got involved as much as we could we did all of ophelias cares religiously and i was expressing milk for her, it was these little things that made us feel like she was ours and we was a mummy and daddy. All the little things you take for granted with a newborn where like huge milestones to us, just getting to hold her hand and and actually change her nappy felt amazing and huge acheivements.
Most people get to hold their babies straightaway, but it was 9 days before i got to hold our princess, i begged them to let me have some kangaroo care, they said i could have her out for 10 minutes then she would have to go back so she didnt' get too cold. I will never ever forget that 1st cuddle, it was overwhelming, putting our tiny girl down my top she was so delicate only about the size of a redbull can, and her head looked too big for her body because it was her brain that had kept developing to keep her alive, we got our 1st family photo and it felt absolutely surreal!!
After 3 weeks in sheffield nocton ward in lincoln decided because ophelia was doing well she could be transferred back before 30 weeks gestation, this was great news meaning we could be closer to family and friends and have more support. While in nocton ward ophelia still had lots of ups and downs she was on si pap for what seemed like forever she was tried on high flow several times till 4th time lucky she coped, was finally starting to feel like we was getting somewhere although her oxygen requirement was still very high. After 2 more blood transfusions, 6 in total it felt like we was starting to get somewhere, ophelia began to make her own haemoglobin and her oxygen requirement extremely slowly began to come down.
We was so proud of ophelia, she had done amazing and everytime she was knocked back with infections she would come back fighting twice as hard, she had 3 s.p.a procedures done, this is a needle that goes through the stomach into the bladder to take fresh urine to get a true result for infection, each time with no pain relief she was so brave. ophelia amazingly passed both her eye tests and he said her eyes where perfect, which was fab news with all the oxygen she was on (this can affect babies eyes), she then had her hearing test, again this was perfect which was great news because when babies are ventilated for over 5 days their hearing can be affected.
We was told ophelia would probably be home january time and to expect to be taking her home on oxygen. but oh no our little fighter had other ideas she wanted to be home for santa. Ophelia exceeded everyones expectations and came home 2 days after her due date on the 15th december after a very long 14weeks in hospital, and even better she came home oxygen free and weighing 5lb 3ozs. I wil never forget that day it was amazing, that moment when the doctors said we could leave i didn't know what to do, i didn't believe them, i thought that day would just never come but when i realised they really did mean we could take ophelia home i was almost running out of the door with her.
Getting ophelia home was surreal, but it was a great feeling after been in hospital for so long it was like my home i hated leaving ophelia even to go and eat, it took me a while for it to sink in this was my miracle and she was finally home, i honestly felt this day would never happen, there was no longer nurses to help, i was ophelias mummy and had to care for her and love her and protect her, wow i really couldn't belive ophelia survived an absolute miracle!!!
Ophelia is now 26 weeks old and weighs 8lb 9ozs, she is doing amazing, shes had a chest infection and a couple of colds but we have managed to keep her out of hospital even though we was told babies that are severely premature like ophelia usually end up back in hospital over winter months, but not our fighter! shes now smiling away and babbles away to us, she lifts her head off the ground and absolutely loves the bath, and just started to wean her.
Ophelia really is a true example that the little 1s are fighters to, and she was meant to be im so proud to be her mummy, she maybe teeny but shes a fiesty lil thing, and i simply can't imagine what it would of been like if she didn't survive, i love her more than i ever new possible, will she get a little brother or sister...... we will see
Congratulations!
