Read the inspirational stories of courage and fight for survival from these amazing premature babies born at 33 weeks gestation throughout Australia including advice from their parents.
Premmie Babies Name: Emma
Gestation Born: 33+6 weeks
Weight When Born: 1490gms
Length When Born: 38cm
Current Age: 8yrs in November
Current Weight Now: 21kgs
Babies Outlook/Ongoing Issues: She has a VSD (hole in her heart) she suffers from asthma and has lots of bowel troubles. She had hernia repair early this year.
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Premmie Babies Name: Nixon
Gestation Born: 33+3 weeks
Weight When Born: 2296 grams
Length When Born: 48cm
Current Age: 3yrs 4months
Current Weight Now: 16kgs
Babies Outlook/Ongoing Issues: Nixon is speech delayed and currently having speech therapy.
He is in the process of being seen having tests etc as a number of professionals (paed, CHN, Speech Pathologist, GP) think he may be on the Autism spectrum. No diagnosis yet but he is having behavioural problems. It could be due to a seizure at birth which was a grade 2 haemmorhage in his left ventricle of his brain. Otherwise he is going very well, he continues to grow infront of my eyes!
Advice From Parents: Talk to other parents in the NICU, everyone is going through the highs and lows of having a premature baby and the support of someone who knows the hurdles and struggles of the hospital journey is comforting. They may become a life long friend.
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Premmie Babies Name: Nakita
Gestation Born: 33+ 4 weeks
Weight When Born: 2350grams
Length When Born: 45.5cm
Current Age: 16 1/2 months
Current Weight Now: 10.69kg
Babies Outlook/Ongoing Issues: Nakita had a relatively smooth run through SCBU, coming home at 35 weeks 1 day, weighing 2170grams, she was a slow gainier with weight, but once she started on solids she started to really put on weight. At 11 1/2 months she wasn’t rolling, only siting very straight, and was fearful of moving out of her comfort zone. She was assessed and diagnosed with hypermobility and for the past 5 months we have been attending weekly physio sessions, which have made a huge difference as she is rolling, crawling and has jsut learnt to pull to stand. She has had 9 respiratory infections during her second winter, requiring 4 hospital visits and 2 stayd requiing oxygen. She has atelectasis of the right lung, either caused from her early arrival or one of the respiratory infections she has had in recent months. The Paeditricians believe she should grow out of it by the time she is 3, but during winter will likely encounter further repiratory issues.
Advice From Parents: Take plenty of photos, enjoy the little milestones and there is a light at the end of the tunnel.
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Premmie Babies Name: Charlie Piper
Gestation Born: 33+5 weeks
Weight When Born: 2020 grams (4 pound 7oz)
Length When Born: 48 cms
Current Age: 6 weeks
Current Weight Now: 3 kgs !!! 6 pound 6
Babies Outlook/Ongoing Issues: So far so good, eats like a horse .. sleeps like a ‘baby’ .. can hold her head up and tries to roll from her back to her belly ..
Advice From Parents: Ask as many questions in hopistal as you can… i learnt more from them then any book or website told me
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Premature Babies Name: Bryan Lucas
Gestation Born: 33 weeks
Weight When Born: 2.2 kgs
Length When Born: 26cms
Current Age: 5 days
Current Weight Now: 2.5 kgs
Babies Outlook/Ongoing Issues:
He is still in the hospital. Once he is feeding and off the oxygen we can bring him home.
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Premmie Babies Name: Ella
Gestation Born: 33 + 5 days
Weight When Born: 2.2kg
Length When Born: 46cm
Current Age: 7 1/2 months
Current Weight Now: 7.4kg
Babies Outlook/Ongoing Issues: Ella is doing really well and we’ve not had many problems arise. She is a little slower achieving her physical milestones such as rolling but mostly this is due to tight muscles in her neck. We are currently seeing a physio and working on strengthening her muscles for these skills. She started solids at 4 months and has done brilliantly since then.
Advice From Parents: Keep a diary with photos – I took a photos everyday she was in hospital! Not only does it help to get some of those feelings out but it reminds you of everything that happened. It’s a dramatic time in your life and its amazing some of the things you forget!
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Premature Babies Name: Abi
Gestation Born: 33+5 weeks
Weight When Born: 2lb 5oz
Length When Born: 40 cm
Current Age: 5 years, 3 months
Current Weight Now: 19 kgs
Babies Outlook/Ongoing Issues: no ongoing issues. vision, hearing and motor skills all normal. speech excellent!
Advice From Parents: don’t ever lose hope.
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Premature Babies Name: Oscar Henry
Gestation Born: 33 weeks
Weight When Born: 1440g
Length When Born: 40cm
Current Age: 8 months
Current Weight Now: 6.89kg
Babies Outlook/Ongoing Issues: When Oscar was 2 days old he had a pneumothorax and later discovered he had a cystic area on the bottom half of his right lung which required a lot of time on Oxygen. We spent 42 days in hospital (10 in NICU and 32 in SCN). He is a little fighter and is doing really well, and just about to start at daycare as I need to return to work. We received great results from our specialist and paed with no ongoing issues at this stage.
Advice From Parents: Always ask lots of questions if you are unsure of anything. I found other Mums and Dads in NICU and SCN were great to talk to as they understand what you are going through.
Love and best wishes to all our special little prems.
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Premature Babies Name: Charlotte-Amelie Lee
Gestation Born: 33+6 Weeks
Weight When Born: 1705 grams
Length When Born: 42.5cm
Current Age: 4 years
Current Weight Now: 14.5 kgs
Babies Outlook/Ongoing Issues: At 4 months old Charlie’s paediatrician had just told me not to expect my premmie to catch up to normal babies until at least a year old, but then in the same breath he told me that she was a perfectly normal baby and didn’t give me any more appointments.
Charlotte-Amelie reached all her milestones as expected and is now above average in height. She was low birth weight as well as premmie.
Advice From Parents: Take it 1 step at a time, 1 day at a time and be positive!
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Premature Babies Name: Caleb
Gestation Born: 33+5 weeks
Weight When Born: 2500 grams
Length When Born: 46.5cm
Current Age: 4 1/2 years
Current Weight Now: 21kg
Babies Outlook/Ongoing Issues: Caleb has a phonological speech disorder and fine and gross motor planning difficulties. What this means is he has trouble with articulation but not language and is a bit clumsy and has trouble writing and colouring like other kids his age. His speech disorder may not be due to being premmie as his brother born two weeks later in gestation also has it but to a lesser degree. He is smart and picks things up easily once they are taught to him. From talking to other mum’s of babies around this gestation,most of the babies have done really well and have overcome the challenges they faced.
Advice From Parents: Believe in your own abilities as a parent (even if it is your first child).Ask questions to gain a greater understanding, question things you don’t think are right and know that even if you are forced to give birth in a certain hospital due to gestation your baby can transfer to a hospital of your choice when they are ok to travel. Be your babies strongest advocate even if you are feeling unsure.
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Premature Babies Name: Blake
Gestation Born: 33 weeks
Weight When Born: 1.72kgs
Length When Born: 41cms
Current Age: 8 months old
Current Weight Now: 6kgs
Babies Outlook/Ongoing Issues: My water broke at 31 weeks PPRM (Preterm Premature Rupture of Membranes) but I kept him in for another 2 weeks so he had both steriods shots for his lungs and I gave birth naturally (with gas) to a healthy baby. I had a manual removal of my placenta as it did not come out naturally after the birth. Blake was in the humidicrib for about 1 week to keep his body warm (so he didn’t have to expend the energy doing that). Blake was treated for jaundice in hospital a few times but he has no ongoing issues other than that he is smaller than others his age and corrected age. He was tube fed formula and EBM and spent 4.5 weeks in hospital where I breastfed and bought him home half breast and half EBM bottle fed. I later moved him from 3 bottles a day to 1 over the course of a month or two and he still has 1 EBM bottle every day or so to encourage weight gain. We are getting ready to start solids as he is 6 months adjusted age.
Advice From Parents: Take lots of photos and videos, especially for when you are at home and bub is in hospital. Don’t be scared when you take your bub home and start being full time because I found he was well trained.
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Premmies Name: Charlotte-Amelie Lee
Gestation Born: 33+6 Weeks
Weight When Born: 1705 grams
Length When Born: 42.5cms
Current Age: 4 Years Old
Current Weight Now: 14.5 kgs
Babies Outlook/Ongoing Issues: At 4 months old Charlie’s paediatrician had just told me not to expect my premmie to catch up to normal babies until at least a year old, but then in the same breath he told me that she was a perfectly normal baby and didn’t give me any more appointments. Charlotte-Amelie reached all her milestones as expected and is now above average in height. She was low birth weight as well as premmie.
Advice From Parents: Take it 1 step at a time, 1 day at a time and be positive!
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