My daughter’s like the Queen. She has two birthdays. Today, 20th December, would have been her 1st birthday had she not been born 10 weeks early, so now seems like a good time to take stock.
It’s been an amazing 14 months. Remembering her in her incubator, it seems incredible that she’s nearly walking now.
Questions like “When can she come home?” and “When will she catch up?” have been replaced with “Is there ANYTHING she won’t put in her mouth?” and “How does she always manage to get Weetabix in her hair?”
When you have a premature baby, it’s only natural that you wonder at what rate they’ll develop, and when they’ll catch up. It’s interesting though – babies develop at such different rates, 10 weeks isn’t really as big a deal as I thought it would be. Gracie’s 14 months, and she’s taken a few steps; some full term babies don’t do that till later anyway. This obviously makes measuring development more difficult, but it’s all about milestones being reached.
I feel so lucky. Gracie has no medical complications (touch wood), and is progressing well. This is great, but I sometimes feel like a bit of a fraud. So many prem babies have issues that need lots of attention, and many parents have a stressful time, even when their babies are allowed home. The most difficult thing I had to deal with was the fact that Gracie refused to sleep in her cot, and didn’t like sleeping on her own.
For me, my experience of raising a prem baby doesn’t seem to be hugely different to other people raising babies that went full term. Obviously, having to spend the first 6 weeks of Gracie’s life visiting her in hospital wasn’t easy, but once she was home, I had the same doubts and concerns that affect any parent. And, like any parent, we found a way through.
I’m incredibly proud of my daughter – she’s happy, bright, and likes her food. She’s fine with other children, and has settled in well at nursery. She’s yet to sleep through the night, but co-sleeping (and breastfeeding) eases any problems that would cause, so no problem there. And they’re babies for such a short time – it’s impossible to think about how different she’ll be in a year from now.
But anyway – Happy Unofficial Birthday Gracie. With love from Mum x
