Today, on the 17th November we look back on our photos of Wilson when he was born, it’s national prematurity day. Just look at him all snug! This is one of the nicer photos we have of Wilson in his little incubator, a lot of others include lots of breathing equipment with tubes and wires everywhere.

Wilson had his first cuddle with his mummy when he was 6 days old.. Imagine giving birth and not being able to cuddle your newborn for 6 days! When I look back I think, wow, that’s heartbreaking! But I didn’t feel like that at the time, you just do what you can to help and take each day as it comes, our NICU journey wasn’t an easy one but I don’t imagine anyone’s is. After this, Wilson was allowed out once a day for half an hour for a cuddle, even then it felt so difficult because there was so much equipment in the way! But it slowly got better and he eventually could breathe on his own, his milk intake through his NG tube increased and then he moved on to bottles, we tried breastfeeding but Wilson really struggled to latch, which I believe is very common amongst premature babies so we made the decision to bottle feed using expressed breast milk and then formula.

Wilson was in hospital for 5 and a half weeks and came home the day after mothers day, best mothers day present ever!! The nurses who cared for Wilson and all the other babies in NICU were incredible, it wasn’t just a job for them. They genuinely cared so much for each of these babies and were amazing support for all the mums and dads (and siblings!) This card, chocolates, flowers and picture of Wilson was on his table next to his bed on Mothers day and it wasn’t until a few weeks later that we found out from a nurse that worked in NICU that it would have come from the nurses own pockets! We really couldn’t thank them enough for what they do each day.IMG_0003

Wilson has a big cousin who was born prematurely too – at just 26 weeks. She was absolutely tiny and didn’t weigh much over just one pound.. She had a lot of difficulties to face but fought them all! She’s now nearly 4 and other being on the small side you wouldn’t even know she was premature! She is a very happy, clever little girl and when we meet up she is great with Wilson and he loves playing with her (as you can see!)

Each premature baby has different problems and difficulties to face, many people think that they are just a bit smaller and have to stay in hospital for a bit longer before they come home but unfortunately not the case, you can read more here about what world prematurity day is.