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
I’m so glad things are going well and I hope you all feel better soon. There’s so much going around. Lots of love. x
Sprinkle seems to be bringing sprinkle of joy and optimism too. Did you say she may be called Joy?
Good to hear the final weaning has gone so smoothly, despite Bea being poorly. Great achievement from you both.
I felt that relief when I hit 24 weeks this week too.
Although now also panicking as we really don’t have anything planned baby-wise yet!
Glad it is going well with Bea at night time for you 🙂
I know that I too need to start getting my head round the fact that I am not just pregnant, I am going to have a baby. In less than 16 weeks!