By Angela Black, Glasgow Scotland
PROM at 18 weeksDelivery at 27 weeks + 6 days.
Story added: 2010-11-07

I was having a perfect pregnancy until i woke in my bed at 2am to hear a small pop and a gush of fluid soaked my sheets, i thought i'd had an accident so never even woke my partner and went back to sleep. My alarm sounded at 7am to get our 8 year old daughter up for school and when i stood up water trickled down my legs, we sent my daughter 2 school and went to the hospital where my prom was confirmed. We were told i would probably go into labour within 48 hours and would lose our baby, i was told to stay in hospital where i was given antibiotics and scans every 3 days, at 24 weeks i started bleeding and was rushed to a different hospital with better facilities as i was again told labour would be imminent. At 26 weeks i had a haemmorage and was in the labour ward while a nurse sat beside me writing out baby bands convinced that this was now it. our baby managed to hang on in there till 27 plus 6 when i went into labour at 3am in the morning, the night before this i was having braxton hicks so i thought thats what it was again so i never told anyone till 6am when i was told i was 4cm dilated! I was taken to labour ward where i called my partner and parents finally hooked up to monitors they could see the baby was in distress and they decided to knock me out and section me, i was en route to theatre when i felt the baby coming and sure enough he was delivered a few feet away from the theatre doors, 16th May 2010 8:28am my partner and mum didnt make it in time as the new hospital was too far away but arrived after about 10mins.

The nurse had a little suprise for us too it was a boy! we had been expecting another girl so we were really suprised! Our baby was ventilated and taken to intensive care while i had a bath and some tes and toast. He weighed 2lbs 4oz and was 21cm long we called him Vinnie Matthew. He suffrered a grade 2 brain haemorrage had a curvature of the spine, a heart murmur, chronic lung disease and inturned feet.

Over the next 3 months we endured numerous infections, 7 blood transfusions, 3 diffirent hospitals, NEC, heart operation, hernia operation and at one point he was so ill he was put back on a ventilator paralysed and given a steady stream of morphine but we never lost hope and our baby got home on his due date of august 9th. He is still on oxygen and had lots of trouble with feeding, he is allergis to milk so is given special formula, he takes 7 different medicines 3 times a day and is on tramazapam because of his muscles, we have been told he probably has cerebal palsy. Now our little Vinnie is nearly 6 months old and weighs in at only 7lbs 14oz! He is such a little fighter and we are so proud of him! He is currently awaiting a second hernia op and he had lots of complications with the last one but we know now he'll be fine, he truly is a miracle!