“We are looking forward to celebrating Christmas with our two little miracles” – Gopika’s Story

Four years ago, in September 2020 I gave birth at 26+3 weeks to my first-born son. His original due date was 31st December.

Two days before I gave birth, I started having excruciating back pain which was radiating to my stomach. Little did I know at the time that this was the start of labour. We rushed to Barnet Hospital and my cervix was checked. Despite the pain, my cervix was closed.

We were sent home but within a few hours, the pain was intensifying. I tried to go to sleep but I felt a sudden gush of blood and it began to drip everywhere. At 14 weeks, I also had a bleed which was far less severe, but at this point I thought I had lost my baby.

We called the ambulance, who thankfully arrived within five minutes despite it being the time when Covid cases were at their peak. Once we got to Barnet Hospital, I was already 2cm dilated and before we knew it, we were being informed about preterm labour and the possibility of being transferred to a Level 3 hospital, given the gestation.

The next day we were blue lighted to Homerton Hospital where I had an emergency c-section within 30 minutes of getting there. Khush was born in the sac weighing 920g and it was immediately evident that my placenta had abrupted which explained the bleeding. He spent five weeks in both the ICU and SCBU rooms before being transferred back to Barnet Hospital. Whilst we had some ups and downs, we were extremely grateful that the consultants said he just needs to feed and grow.

We were surrounded by some complicated cases with babies born at a later gestation. In total, we spent 88 days in NICU and Khush came home on 16th December 2020, at 37.5 weeks actual gestation both in time for Christmas and two weeks before his original due date. We were absolutely delighted to have him finally home after a very tiring and stressful three months. Today, he is thriving and an absolute joy to be around.

Fast forward 4 years and our second son Dhilan was born this June at 26 weeks exactly, weighing 800g and his original due date being end of September. He also had various ups and downs as expected and spent 95 days in NICU between St George's and Barnet Hospital.

We did not expect to have an identical pregnancy, again with bleeding at 14 weeks and placental abruption. It is very rare to have the same pregnancy and birth and I am currently undergoing investigations. However, we are thankful to the lovely teams in all hospitals especially the Starlight Unit who we were reunited with, albeit in difficult circumstances. They are the ultimate superstars and I can't thank them enough for diligently caring for our two boys!

We are looking forward to Christmas and celebrating as a family of four now with our two little miracles! Our warrior babies have truly shown us what strength and resilience looks like and we are extremely grateful to have them safe and sound at home.

I hope sharing my story gives hope to all families going through the NICU experience. Reading stories on the Bliss website on both occasions was truly inspiring. The NICU experience is unimaginable and the advice that I can give is – don't give up hope, be your baby's biggest advocate and know that there is always light at the end of tunnel.