Coming home without your baby is very difficultFrom 29 weeks, Glynis Chapman's pregnancy became a stressful waiting (and hoping) game.
I was reassured that placenta praevia was very commonI was diagnosed with placenta praevia at 20 weeks but wasn't warned that I was at risk of going into premature labour. I was told that I'd be offered another scan at 36 weeks to see if the placenta had moved, thus allowing normal delivery. They did tell me that if the placenta hadn't moved at the 36-week scan, I would be scanned weekly up to 39 weeks. Should the placenta be in the same place then, I would be booked in for a C-Section. I was a little upset, especially as it was my first child and first pregnancy, but I was reassured that I would be under a consultant and that it was very common. In most cases the placenta moved of its own accord so I wasn't really concerned at this stage. A bleed at 29 weeksI started bleeding at 29 weeks so I phoned the delivery suite and they told me to come straight to hospital, where I was placed under observation for three hours. I was then transferred to a specialist hospital that had intensive care facilities in case the baby needed to be delivered. The hospital was 15 miles away and I went by ambulance (with my husband following in the car) with a midwife and consultant. A team was waiting and I was rushed into the antenatal unit where I had a scan to ensure the baby was OK. I stayed in a side ward for observation overnight and was then moved to the antenatal ward and stayed there for ten days. After this time, I was transferred to my local hospital as the bleeding had stopped. I stayed there for just under three weeks before being allowed home. The consultant told me that I was only being allowed home as I'd been telling the midwives I was feeling depressed after being in hospital for so long. He also told me that if I started bleeding again I would have to have a C-Section there and then as it was putting a massive strain on my body and could result in the baby dying. It took the paramedics 45 minutes to stabilise meI was only home for one day before the bleeding started again. I was on my own, 33 weeks pregnant, and really scared. I phoned the delivery suite again and they said they would get an ambulance to my house as soon as possible. I was told to lie on the floor and elevate my legs. I called my mum - who had only left my house an hour earlier - and my in-laws as they lived five minutes away and I knew they would come straight away. By the time the paramedics arrived I'd lost so much blood my blood pressure was dangerously low and my pulse was racing. It took the paramedics 45 minutes to stabilise me and I was rushed to hospital with my mum and mother-in-law in the ambulance. I'd told my mum not to contact my husband as he was working 45 miles away and I was frightened he would speed down the motorway to get home. Instead I told her to call him just before he was due home and let him know what was going on. The baby needed to come out asapAt the hospital, I was taken into the delivery suite. A midwife told me I was going to be put under general anaesthetic as they needed to get the baby out as soon as possible. I remember saying. 'What if I don't wake up and see my baby?' and I started to cry. That was the last thing I remember until I woke up in the recovery room with my husband, Graham, crying, saying we had a little boy and he was perfect. I didn't see Alexander for two days due to having a bad reaction to the anaesthetic. Then the recovery took a little longer than usual as I had an infection in the wound. I was in hospital for 10 days after the C-Section. I was kept in a side room as the midwife said they didn't want to put me with other mothers seeing as my baby was in SCBU. I could understand this but it really hit home that I was separated from my baby. Also, I spent most of my time in SCBU watching him and worrying about all the wires. It was a really awful time. Kangaroo contactAfter I was discharged from hospital, Graham and I would go first thing in the morning to the SCBU and stay all day until around 9pm as we wanted to be with Alexander as much as possible. It was really tiring and, again, coming home on an evening without your baby is very difficult. This didn't prevent me from bonding though as the staff encourage 'Kangaroo contact', which basically means that whenever Graham or I were in the unit, Alexander was placed inside our clothes so he could feel the skin contact. This was wonderful, especially as his first week was spent solely in the incubator with very little contact. I expressed for the duration Alexander was in SCBU. It became a joke with the nurses when we arrived each morning: they would answer the door and say 'The milkman's here!'. It helped elevate the mood a little. The SCBU staff were absolutely fantastic. We used to phone all hours of the night (sometimes around 4am) to see how Alexander was and they never once complained. Getting used to our little manAt the end of four weeks, Alexander had made excellent progress and we were asked to spend a night in SCBU so we could get used to our little man before going home. This was really nice as the unit had a 'home' where new parents could adapt to the demands of their new baby, i.e. waking in the night for feeds, changes etc, but with the reassurance that a nurse is just outside should anything happen. When Alexander finally was discharged, the house had been decorated by our family to welcome him to his new home. It was a lovely experience to have our little man home. However, when we look back, we did wrap him up in cotton wool as we were constantly at the doctors with the most menial of things! I think this was all due to him being born early - and being our first child! We worried about the least thing. In my second pregnancy, I was under constant supervision from six weeks as I'd had a miscarriage in 2004 (11 weeks). I was placed under a consultant and I had an elective C-Section at 39 weeks. This was fabulous when compared to my last C-Section: so relaxed, with music playing in the background, Graham at my side and back on my feet and discharged from hospital three days after the operation. Wonderful! Glynis Chapman, from South Shields, is mum to Alexander (6) and Daniel (3 weeks).Where to next?
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