Her movements are a beautiful reminder of the life that is growing inside of me and after my last scan on Wednesday I was told she is weighing about 2 lbs 2 ounces. Still a tiny little thing with a long way to before joining us in February.
So far I have had a healthy and problem free pregnancy and I hope to continue on that path. One of the issues I never worried about, or even thought about was giving birth prematurely. When I was expecting Little M the thought never crossed my mind - I thought that was more common with women carrying twins (or more).
One late night, when I had my newborn son in my arms in the hospital in London the woman who they had brought in next to me wouldn't stop sobbing. Her desperate cries woke me and I just lay there, still, not daring to move. I could hear her speaking to the doctor and asking,
"Why did this happen to me? Is she going to live? Why me? I didn't do anything".
I could hear the sheer terror in her voice followed by more crying. I had no idea she was talking about, but then I heard a low voice say,
"We are doing all we can. You were only 24 weeks..."
I just froze. Twenty four weeks. That's like 5 months I thought to myself. Dios mío. Her voice broke when she tried to speak and I cried silent tears on the other side of the curtain that divided our beds. I held my son, kissed him on the head, closed my eyes and prayed a Hail Mary for her, the baby and their family.
A year later my husband emailed to say that friends of ours had had their baby and were on their way home from the hospital. She was only about 5 months and I was hoping he was mistaken. I instantly had flashbacks of that night in the London hospital. Sadly, the news turned out to be true. She had in fact given birth at 25 weeks and their son had been the NICU for over a month. I was floored. Completely in shock. How? Why?
This Saturday, November 17th is World Prematurity Day and I felt it was my duty as a parent to share these stories despite not having experienced it myself. The truth is, it affects affects everyone involved, even those like me who happened to be in the same hospital ward.
This day is dedicated to help raise global awareness about prematurity and the potential risks associated with pre-term birth. With underdeveloped organs and immature immune systems, babies born prior to 37 weeks can be especially prone to infections from what seems like harmless viruses like the common cold, the flu or Respiratory Syncytial Virus (RSV).
I often think of that woman in the hospital and when I see our friends son and how wonderful he is doing, I would like to think her little girl is happy and healthy running around a park in London.
We would love your support in any way, use #protectpreemies #rsv on Twitter. Here's to a world of more happy, healthy pregnancies and babies!
*This is a sponsored post in collaboration with Latina Bloggers Connect*