Today I am 24 weeks and 2 days pregnant

With our Sprinkle of Stardust

Baby number 5

Five years ago today

I was 24+5 with Matilda Mae

And I posted a very similar post

To the one I am writing today

Reaching 24 weeks is a huge milestone

For any pregnancy

But particularly for those parents

Who have had a previous premature birth

Esther and William were born

Just three weeks from this gestation

27+3 they were born

It was at 25 weeks that things went wrong

With my twin pregnancy

And the three of us almost lost our lives

It is only because of the determination of NHS staff

And the skill of my NHS surgeon

That any of us are here today

I am all too aware that things could easily go wrong again

But I hope and pray that this time we will be okay

Matilda Mae was born on her due date

And Bea was induced the day before hers

So I am hopeful that with Sprinkle

I can get to term

Or at least close to term again

Today I am just so happy that we have reached 24 weeks

Now come what may

My baby daughter will be born

And the medical teams have to try and save her

More and more babies born at 24 weeks are surviving

In babies born preterm

The chance of survival at less than 23 weeks is close to zero

While at 23 weeks it is 15%

At 24 weeks 55%

And at 25 weeks about 80%

Survival rates for premature babies are increasing

The odds are better now for 27 weekers

Than they were in 2010 when Esther and William were born

Modern medicine is a miracle

We should never ever take our NHS for granted

Without them

Me and my children would not be here today

But we are here

Here we are

A growing family

So close to completion

Hoping we get to bring our latest and last baby home

Hoping that we get to keep her

Praying that she will stay

She seems already

To be a feisty little thing

Yesterday we had our 24 week midwife appointment

It was very short and sweet

When the midwife listened to Sprinkle’s heartbeat

She was trying very hard to kick the probe away

It was a magical moment

We could both see the kicks

We could see little Sprinkle moving

The midwife was happy with baby and me

Reminded me to ensure that I am getting enough iron and vitamin D

Which at the moment I am probably not

I have stopped taking any supplements

And I really need to start again

Prenatal Vitamin Supplement details at MonicasHealth mag

I know that my iron is low

As I am feeling quite breathy

And my energy levels are low

I do try to eat a lot of iron rich foods

And drink orange juice with meals

To aid the iron absorption

The last week has been quite tough here

As we have all had coughs and colds

Bea has really struggled with being able to sleep

With a stuffy nose

And Esther’s sleep has been punctuated with a croupy cough

But we do seem to now be coming out the other side

Of this particular round of seasonal illness

I am loving dressing my bump at the moment

With the cold weather

I am doing lots of layering

I am not a person who feels extra warm in pregnancy

I always feel the cold!

You can read a post about my pregnancy style here

This week has also seen mine and Bea’s breastfeeding journey come to an end

Bea is two and a half years old

And until mid December she slept all her sleep in my arms

For over two years I fed her and cradled her to sleep

She had the odd nap in a buggy

In the early days we tried different places for sleep

But it worked best for us both to stay close

She was my first rainbow baby

After losing my daughter to SIDS

I have not known how to put her down

But since just before Christmas

I started feeding her to sleep in our bed

And leaving her there for short periods of time

Over the last month I have been feeding her less

And it has now been well over 48 hours since our last feed

Now I cuddle her to sleep

She has warm milk in a sippy cup and a story

Then as long as I stay close she will fall asleep

And I can leave her in bed sleeping

And enjoy a couple of hours of evening time

With Sprinkle

I cannot have the same two and a half year nursing period

I need to find a way to lay my baby down to sleep

So that I can spend time with my husband and all my children

I have missed out on lots of time with Esther and William

Through nursing and nurturing Bea

I cannot

Do not want to lose that time again

So I am going to be exploring sleep stations

And safe sleep products over the next 16 weeks

To help me make sure that I have a more healthy sleep relationship

With our Sprinkle of Stardust

I am so sad that I am no longer feeding Bea

But I am loving our new bed routine

And that she still snuggles up

Even without her ‘num num’

And I am feeling quite relieved

To have my body back

Sort of

For a few weeks

Before the process starts over again

I am also planning a few nights out

With my older children

My best friend

And perhaps even my husband

Before our Sprinkle arrives

24 weeks

Heading for 25 weeks

You are doing so well

Sprinkle of Stardust

Please keep strong and safe in there

Please keep growing as you should

I am allowing myself some hope now

Some dreams

I might even start a little planning

Because my baby girl

In 16 weeks

We hope and pray you will be here

Alive and well

And our family will be complete