Read the inspirational stories of courage and fight for survival from these amazing premature babies born at 35 weeks gestation throughout Australia including advice from their parents.
Premmie Babies Name: Emily Rose
Gestation Born: 35 weeks
Weight When Born: 2210g
Length When Born: 46cm
Current Age: 19 months
Current Weight Now: 11.8kg
Babies Outlook/Ongoing Issues: Emily has no ongoing issues.
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Premmie Babies Name: Andrew Raymond Bede
Gestation Born: 35 weeks + 3 days
Weight When Born: 3228g
Length When Born: 47.5cm
Current Age: 3 months and 3 days
Current Weight Now: 6.8kgs
Babies Outlook/Ongoing Issues: When Andrew was born the only real problem he had was that he hadn’t yet developed his sucking reflex. He was in the SCN – special care nursery – for a total of 15 days from birth. He was unable to breast feed and as my blood pressure is still very high I wasn’t able to pump milk for him due to the medication I am on for my blood pressure. So I am completely relying on Karicare Gold Birth formula which he really likes and is gaining weight like a trooper.
He is now 3 months old and has only really noticed he has hands about 4 weeks ago. He is sort of holding up his own head, but he seems to get tired after a while and then gets cranky. He still hasn’t rolled over yet, but as he is only really 2 months corrected age I am hopefull that be the time he is 4 months he will have mastered that too. He is smiling all the time and cooing at all of his hanging toys on his playmat and mobile. I couldn’t have asked for a better baby to have. He is sleeping through most nights which is getting much better for me!! 
Advice From Parents: Just don’t give up. I got very depressed until my little boy eventually came home, as the DR’s didn’t tell me that he would need to stay at the hospital. Just take each day as it comes, and don’t feel like you are a failure… in my case I had gestational diabetes & pre-eclampsia, and there was nothing I could have done to prevent the premmie birth. I had 2 options… 1) Give birth to a 35week baby or 2) Die.
The answer was an easy one, but I still felt very guilty for not being able to keep him in until that 37 week mark that the DR’s were originally aiming for.
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Premature Babies Name: Poppy
Gestation Born: 35+4 weeks
Weight When Born: 4lb 11oz
Length When Born: 46 cms
Current Age: 13 months
Current Weight Now: 8.4 kgs
Babies Outlook/Ongoing Issues: Poppy needed to be ventilated at birth for 24 hrs, then moved onto CPAP for 24 hrs, high oxygen levels in a isolet for 5 days, nasal prong oxygen for another 3 days then breathing on her own!!! All up spent 4 days in NICU and 10 days in SCN, she came home after only being on all suck feeds for a day, so when she had been home for 3 days her feeding started to go down hill. She started vomiting large amounts and was really fussy, but never and i mean never cried for a feed, we had to always set an alarm to wake us as she would wake but not cry to be fed. At the age of 10 wks she decreased her volume by half for no reason. We struggled for another 5 weeks when finally the doctors agreed there was something wrong when she completly refused for 3 days. They put down a nasal gastric feeding tube,
5 months later and alot of tests, it showed she had a rare reflux disorder called Sandifer Syndrome. It causes her muscles to spasm everytime she refluxed. What made it so hard to tell was she nevered cried!! All up she had 13 admissions and 68 days in hosptial. Along with the feeding came weak muscle tone as she was starving herself for so long, tight muscles from the reflux, refusing to feed and immature feeding. She is nearly 13 mths old, is not on any medication, is drinking up to 180mls 4 times a day and eating 3 meals just like any other baby her age.
Advice From Parents: All i can say is you know your baby so if you notice any thing odd dont give up…… even if it takes you days, weeks or months, as someone has to listen. I was very lucky it was the head nurse of the childrens ward of our local hospital and when things seem tough and overwhelming, try to find an aveue to share your story with others that have been through the same as you, like this great website. And for me, when everyone said “gee you have been through alot” go yep i have but how bloody lucky my baby made it and is here today as sadly there are some premmies that arent that lucky.
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Premature Babies Name: Owen
Gestation Born: 35+5 weeks
Weight When Born: 2080 grams
Length When Born: n/a
Current Age: 16 months
Current Weight Now: 9 kg
Babies Outlook/Ongoing Issues: Owen was a lot smaller than expected when born and as a result had issues with maintaining his body temperature and feeding due to lack of suck reflex. As a result he spent 16 days in the Special Care Nursery. I had a very hard time with that as the communication from the staff was not great and I felt like I was lacking information regardless of how many questions I asked. In the beginning we had numerous issues with feeding and sleeping and he had to be woken for every feed. Thankfully with the help of a private lactation consultant we managed to work that out.
Owen is now a happy, bubbly, gorgeous boy with no ongoing issues who continues to amaze us with how much he can do as he is meeting all developmental milestones for his adjusted age.
Advice From Parents: Follow your instincts. Don’t take no for an answer when you know there is something not right. Don’t be afraid to talk to others in your situation as they are the only people who truly understand.
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Premature Babies Name: Maria
Gestation Born: 35+1 Weeks
Weight When Born: 2293 grams
Length When Born: 45cms
Current Age: 11 Weeks
Current Weight Now: 3930 grams
Babies Outlook/Ongoing Issues: Maria was born just past 35 weeks and came in a big hurry. Labour was 4 and a half hours and that included being rushed by ambulance to a nearby town (50mins away). Initially Maria was placed in a humidicrib in the nursery but was back with Mum in our room within 3 hours. She looked to feed immediately and was able to suck well. We spent 6 days in hospital in total. Maria’s main issue was breast feeding and Mum’s lack of milk. Maria is growing but slowly and Mum tries to keep positive about it.
Advice From Parents: Be glad for your babies presence and don’t dwell on the fact that they should still be in your tummy. Gather as much information to help in the future as you can and ask as many questions as many times as you need to.
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