My son Jacob was born at 29+2 weeks in 2016. We first found that the pregnancy was not progressing as it should at his 20-week scan, which showed he was measuring small. At 27 weeks, his growth slowed down significantly and I was immediately referred to a consultant. He told us that Jake’s poor growth was likely caused by difficulties with the placenta and would probably result in him being born early.
By the end of the week, I was admitted to hospital with pre-eclampsia and Jacob was born a week later, weighing 1lb 10oz (749g).
Jacob was initially too small to be cared for at our local hospital so before I gave birth, I was moved to a larger hospital in the next county. Fortunately, my husband, Ed, and I were given a room to stay in on the neonatal unit for the month that that was Jacob’s home.
Having your baby on a neonatal unit is a daunting experience. As we had some advance warning of his early birth, we had the opportunity to visit the neonatal unit before his arrival. But, this didn’t really prepare me for seeing this tiny baby lying in his incubator amongst a sea of tubes and wires. Suddenly I found myself launched into a world of beeping machines and medical terminology, which was far from how I had imagined starting out motherhood.