28 July 2015

An introduction to my new series - Having a Premmie

Over the last 6 years, I have had various friends ask my advice on how they can support their friends who have had a premature baby. At first I was a little worried that I might not be able to help them. As it was some time ago my memory has become a little foggy with remembering all the details of those days (nearly 7 years ago) but there are those things you never quite forget.

It got me thinking of the experiences I went through with Popette when she was in the NICU, and what helped my Husband and I get through such a traumatic time.




So I told my friends what I went through and experienced, and of the different organisations and people that might be able to help their friends. I was pleased when they told me that the information I gave them was very useful.

I know I have talked about Popette's birth and my experience with pre-eclampsia here before, but I thought I would reshare these posts along with a new series of posts on what its like to have a premature baby in the NICU.

Some of the topics I plan to write about include:

* 6 tips for dealing with parents of a premature baby
* The arrival of Popette: my experience with pre-eclampsia and HELLP syndrome,
* Excerpts from Popette's NICU diary,
* A letter to the new NICU Mumma,

This series is very personal and close to my heart, so hope you will join me. By sharing my experience and stories here, I hope anyone who has friends or relatives going through a similar situation will find these posts useful.

               Here's a sneak peek into the first post                

The arrival of Popette: my experience with pre-eclampsia and HELLP syndrome


My Husband and I left it late in having children. We had been married for 13 wonderful years, was paying off a mortgage, had 
travelled overseas numerous times, enjoyed going out with friends and taking long-weekends away. We both had fairly good careers and were really happy. It took us some time to realise that what we both wanted, was a family of our own.

So in late 2007 we started trying for a baby. We had been trying to conceive for over 12 months, so it wasn't until I was 35 before I finally fell pregnant.

We were both thrilled, and couldn't wait to see our little tiny baby on the ultrasound. Unfortunately it wasn't meant to be, and at 5 weeks gestation I miscarried. As you could imagine we were devastated. 

Due to my age and history of Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome (PCOS), I was considered a high risk pregnancy, so after talking with our GP he put us onto a wonderful obstetrician. The obstetrician placed me on Metformin (to help with insulin levels) and monitored me closely over the next couple months. Thankfully within two months I was pregnant again!

I was pretty fortunate not to have morning sickness throughout my pregnancy. I was eating healthy, doing light exercises, generally I felt great. I loved seeing my little bump getting bigger and bigger. I loved the feeling of Popette (the nickname we gave our bub early on) kicking me. It always gave my Hubby and I the biggest thrill when we felt her kick.


At around 18 weeks gestation, I started to develop Pregnancy Induced Hypertension (PIH) that caused my blood pressure to get extremely high during my pregnancy. Before I was pregnant, I never had issues with my blood pressure.

   See next week's post to hear more of this story  

I am linking up with Essentially Jess for IBOT

12 comments:

  1. What a great idea for a post series, I look forward to coming back next week and reading more of your story! And welcome to IBOT :)

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  2. I was just getting into that story and it ended! Looking forward to reading more next time. My brother's wife recently had identical twins at 32 weeks, so I'm very interested in this topic. #teamIBOT

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    1. Hi Renee, I'm glad you like the story so far...I thought I'd share a sneak peak to get the readers enticed :) I hope your brother's twins are doing well and home soon :)

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  3. Looking forward to reading more!

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  4. Great to share this information. A lot of the hard birth stories are not told. Thanks for sharing. Zoe xx

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  5. What an awesome idea for a series hun - you should share this with Premmie groups on Facebook as I can only imagine how helpful it would be to read your story if you are in the thick of it for yourself. xx

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    1. Thanks Son. I've posted a link on one Premmie group that I belong to, but will have a search for other groups. I think its such an important topic, so wanted to share it with as many places as possible as my little blogs FB page doesn't get much traffic. Hopefully by sharing my thoughts and advice will help others out xx

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  6. I am positive this series will be a great comfort to many new mums, Julie. Good on you. x

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