My OH was born at 23 weeks 5 days - pix included

[LunaBean]

Hey girls, don't know if this is ok to post here (mods feel free to remove it if so!), but we thought it might help some preemie mummies see that very early babies can still give a good fight!

My OH was born at 23 weeks 5 days on the 18th March 1988, she was due on the 1st July. She was the earliest baby the hospital had ever had. Her mum was 20 and her dad was 22 and she was their first baby. They didnt have any warning that she'd be coming early, she just came out of the blue! She was 1lb 13oz when she was born and went straight into NICU where she stayed for the next 6 months, but she dropped to 1lb 6oz 6 days later.

She came home at 6 months old weighing 7lb 2oz, and apart from being small and having flat feet, she didn't suffer from any health problems. She did have a birthmark on her shoulder (you can see it in the pic) that started bleeding and wouldnt stop, then all of a sudden it stopped one day, now she has a hole in her shoulder about the size of a golf ball, or her 'shark bite' as she calls it!

Sorry for the quailty, she took pix of the photos in the album!

1 day old

https://i55.tinypic.com/scflac.jpg

few weeks old (and her birthmark)

https://i52.tinypic.com/1qlm6a.jpg

with the nurse

https://i55.tinypic.com/eq71bp.jpg

with her daddy at 4/5 months old

https://i52.tinypic.com/s0xssh.jpg

2 years old

https://i51.tinypic.com/qz59bp.jpg

4 years old

https://i52.tinypic.com/2ninqdw.jpg

and now - 22

https://i54.tinypic.com/2643qxf.jpg


I hope this helps some of the mummies with preemie babies see that even if your baby is born reallly early, they can be fine! The only thing was that her mum had to fight to get her a birth certificate for her cus she was born before 24 weeks! Her mum went on to have 3 full term babies, 6oz 7lb, 7lb 1oz and one 10lb 6oz-er (who made her go blind for an hour when he was being born, now he's 6ft 3 inches!!)

I hope no-one was annoyed/offended I posted in here. OH is currently at uni studying to be a teacher, and is none the worse off for being born so early! She's also fundraising for BLISS, and is doing a sponsored skydive (when it finally goes ahead, it's been cancelled 3 times because of the weather!)

I can ask her or her mum if anyone has any questions about when she got older etc!

Luna x

 

[AP]

Thanks Luna!!! I was a 29 weeker and had my daughter at 27 weeks, mu mum never kepts pics so this is really interesting

 

[Agiboma]

thanks so much for sharing

 

[katy1310]

Thanks for sharing this story

Your OH was exactly the same weight as my LO when she was born at 27 weeks.

xx