Teeny baby

I have a friend who's daughter was born at 23 weeks and weighed 1lb 1oz. She was in hospital for a good few months but came home on oxygen. That was 11 years ago. She is now a gorgeous young lady.

I feel for you, and you are still up late being concerned. It is amazing what can be done now for such tiny babies and the fight that they have in themselves to survive is overwhelming to see. My sister was born with heart problems and even though she was a good weight, she was operated on at a week old, got an infection and had to fight that. She is now 35 years old.

I think you can only take it a day at a time. Tick the days off as she gets stronger. Trouble is with prem babies is that they do tend to take steps back too which is scary. But keep chatting on here, I will be thinking of you and praying that this tiny tot goes from strength to strength and is soon home with her big sister and loving family. X

It's terrifying isn't it? When my first granddaughter was born at that awful just possible survival date, I was a nervous wreck – not least because I was living the other side of the world. The photographs sent to me seemed to show nothing but huge machines and tubes and a tiny squirt of a thing who was barely visible. Three times she stopped breathing and I cannot imagine the terror that must have flooded my daughter and son-in-law each time. Of course, even had I been in the same country, there would have been little I could do except provide moral support and a bit of cooking and cleaning. It was all down to the neonatal unit which was superb.

Caitlin, a bright girl and a terrific athlete, has recently celebrated her eleventh birthday and is looking forward excitedly to starting her new intermediate school next month. Keep strong and I hope all goes well.

Congratulations on the birth of your tiny granddaughter! It's amazing what can be done for these little ones nowadays. My friend had a little girl at 25 weeks gestation weighing 1lb 3oz who spent many months in NICU. She had to undergo heart surgery and later on laser treatment on her eyes for ROP. She finally came home on oxygen and high protein formula, and is now 21 months (17 adjusted) off oxygen, eats pretty much anything and is walking and talking. She is still small for her age but is catching up fast. I've followed her journey with fascination and awe at her achievements.

My ex SiL was born in an ambulance at the side of the road at 23wks. I know he spent several wks in SCBU and they nearly lost him after they administered penicillin without realising he is allergic.
He has no lasting effects of his poor start. He passed an army medical with no problems.

Congratulations on this new arrival - but sorry that there are worries too. 27 weeks is not bad at all in these days of excellent medical care. Hope all goes well for her.

Congrats Flower I hope your tiny grandaughter thrives and is getting the sort of care my little twin grandaughters got when they were born weighing 2lbs and 2.10lbs three years ago. My DD also had that injection for their lungs just a week before they were delivered as an energency at 30 weeks. We were elated, scared and constantly on high alert for news of their progress from one day to the next. Those little sugar bag sized babies are now two harem scarem bundles of energy, absolutely adorable and testament to the sophisticated care that very premature babies receive in high dependency neonatal baby units all over the country.

You'll find your little grandaghter is scanned, x-rayed, tested and treated to optimise her progress and it's scary to walk in to the unit and see all the machinery, wires and monitors making alarming noises. Our little ones were discharged weighing 4 lbs, able to breathe, feed and maintain their body temperatures consistently and they haven't looked back. I hope you have the happy times in front of you that we've enjoyed so far.

The granddaughter of acquaintances of mine was born at 26 weeks in April '14. She is doing very well now.

Best wishes for the little one.

My aunt lily was born prewar and her mother died in labour. She had to be dressed in dolls clothes and fed with a fountain pen filler. This must have been born during the First World War. She lived into her 90s

Flower congratulations on the arrival of your new granddaughter.
I hope you're encouraged by all the lovely stories of healthy babies and children recounted here. I do understand your mixed emotions, but the prospects seem good.

grandsons cousins twin girls were born at 26 weeks, although one was smaller and had few problems at the start, they are now bouncy 9 yrs olds forgot what weight they were.

A very good friend of mine had premature twins that were unbelievably tiny - each about the size of a bag of sugar. By their first birthday, you would not have known they were premature, and they have never looked back. The same thing with my young neighbour; her first baby was premature and she was so worried about him. Now three, he is a strapping, healthy, active little chap. It's normal to worry, but even tiny babies are very resilient.

Will pm you.

Hi flower, nice to see you again and congratulations!

Our nephew's best friend and his wife miscarried threes times before they had a baby really early [can't remember the exact dates!] who had all sorts of problems. They named her hope! She is now a super, bright, confident 11 year old who has a lovely little brother who was born at full term! All good wishes and try not to worry too much!

FLower Our twin grandsons wil be a year old next month. They were born at 26 weeks weighing 1.5 and 2.3. No time for the injection so their lungs were quite weak. They are still on oxygen and wil be for a while yet. However they are now strappng boys, big for their age and are trying to crawl. As others have said, there were a few frights along the way and they were in hospital for 4 months but the neo natal unit was really amazing. Nothing will stop you worrying but as can see there are a lot of people who have had positive experiences of this.
Good Luck

Many congratulations flower. I have no personal experience to offer you, but just wanted to send my warmest good wishes.

+Thank you all so much for kind words and inspiration. She is doing ok at the moment but like you say there are days she will slip back. The unit is amazing. My son and his wife are too. Lots of stories to give me hope. She is adorable, I have had my little finger held by her. Thanks again, nice to be back.

A friend of DD's weighed the same at birth as your DGD. She is now a solicitor in her 30s and living in Australia.

And our step-great-niece weighed not much more, although she was born at 30 weeks. She is now 12 and at senior school, a very sporty girl who is diligent with her schoolwork too.

Congratulations on your teeny Grandaughter. I have no experience personally but I know the baby units are brilliant. I send my best wishes and hope she will soon be fit and well and waiting for lots of cuddles .

Sorry, I should have said congratulations and hope all is well with the little one

Next door's twin girls! They took almost a year to catch up with my GD, born at the same time, but now all three little girls are the same size and all at the same stage of development. All equally noisy and demanding. And very funny.

My mother's copy of Dr Spock (1946) has instructions for caring for your premature baby if you were living miles out on the prairie! Basically you wrapped them in flannel and put them in a box with a hot water bottle and fed them with a fountain pen filler. This went on until you could reach a doctor Heaven knows whether it was successful!

DD's best friend had a baby born very early after a difficult pregnancy and six years later she is fine, although still no taller than her younger sister.

My 23 & 16 year old nephews were born too soon (26 and 28 weeks)
Both are lovey young men now! Will try to upload pic on my profile for you to see!