Lucy’s Journey
Hi there. My name is Lucy and this is my story. Maybe I should introduce myself first. I was born 12 weeks early – beginning February 2000. My early arrival came as quite a shock to mum and dad. Mum had some problem with a big name – pre-eclampsia – which meant I wasn’t doing too well inside her tummy. The result – my early arrival at Simpsons Neonatal Unit. I weighed a tiny 840g (1lbs 14ozs for those of you who, like my mum and dad, are not quite fully metric yet!).
This is a picture of me 4 hours after my arrival – chilling out on my little red quilt. Mum and Dad said they knew right away I was a star.
I progressed very well – 6mls of milk every day along with all my other medicines and food helped me to grow big and strong. I had quite a few setbacks – just a reminder of how fragile we premies are I suppose.
Undeterred, I continued to grow big and strong and there were some great moments on the way – my first Valentine card from my Daddy and my first kangaroo hugs from mum and dad.
It wasn’t long before I got quite big. After only 3 weeks I weighed 1.15kg (2lbs 9ozs!) – there was no stopping me. I was back on my CPAP driver after a few bad days but I was getting bigger and stronger with every day.
All the doctors and nurses were great. They really looked after me. I even got my picture taken with Professor McIntosh for the Edinburgh Evening News – what a claim to fame for me!
After 6 weeks I was transferred to St John’s Hospital, Livingston. Jo, my named nurse, came and met me in Edinburgh and I travelled first class in my special travel cot. I settled in really well at St John’s and soon loved my new incubator.
I had a lot of new experiences at St John’s – a cot instead of an incubator, a bath (after 7 weeks without one!), a bottle for feeding instead of a tube and lots of new things to do as I grew stronger. My job now was to stay well and put on weight.
After 6 weeks at St John’s I left on my expected due date (end of April), weighing 6lbs. It had been quite a journey but, in case you are wondering, please see below for some pictures of how well I have done since my pretty traumatic start.
Lucy XXX