Comments on: What it is like to have an early baby

By: susan heumphreus

susan heumphreus — Fri, 17 May 2013 01:13:54 +0000

My daughter had her first baby at 30W3D. Also had immediate onset preeclampsia and HELLP. I thought I had a good idea of what she was going through…but your post quickly slammed that idea out of my head! Thank you Naomi for verbalizing what my little girl was/is feeling…I wept throughout your blog, and bawled after reading Sarah’s comment. I texted my daughter to have her read this. She and I would sure love to read a blog post about HOW and WHEN someone emotionally heals from this. When do you stop feeling the guilt and anger (and hate)….and are just able to go forward? What helps??

By: christina mills

christina mills — Sun, 10 Mar 2013 09:07:36 +0000

thank you soooo much for writing this! this is also my story my son was also born at 30 weeks a whopping 1 lbs 15 oz. due to severe pre-eclampsia I feel the same way about c section he was ripped from me like i wasnt good enough! to mak e matters worse i have a 3 year old son who was born 5 days over due wieghing in at 9lbs 7 oz vaginal delivery! so it made it even worse knowing i could handle that pregnancy but this one i couldn’t. I hate these pregnant women now who get to carry thier babies to term constantly complaining about this beautiful and sacred expirence! i just want to slap them in the face! they dont know how it feels to have your child TAKEN from you! thank you so much for this post i now have words to how i feel! My son survived 69 days in the NICU he is now 3 mos old today 3 weeks adjusted! doing wonderfully 7 lbs 4 oz now still has an ng tube in but taking 85% of his bottles!! thank you i have no words to express my gratitude!

By: Erica

Erica — Wed, 06 Feb 2013 07:54:51 +0000

All I can do is echo the comments from above – this is exactly my story, too! My post NICU PTSD has definitely improved, but the two biggest things that get me with this story, that I can identify with the most, are the part about our preemies being “TAKEN” out of us, not “delivered” – my son was a 29 weeker due to pre-e and HELLP also. And the part about the c-section scar and how it is a constant reminder of everything we went through.

By: Melissa

Melissa — Tue, 05 Feb 2013 15:44:42 +0000

You have me in tears. Your story is so incredibly similar to mine, I felt as if I were reading my own story of our Hannah’s start. Pre-eclampsia, HELLP, the feeling of failure, helplessness, emptiness, anger, frustration, hope, and – as I watch her play with blocks and dance around the living room to The Jackson 5 – the feeling of overwhelming love and thankfulness. Thank you so much for sharing your story. It’s nice to know there are mothers out there who have been through this, have come out stronger for it, and that we are not alone in this fight for our wonderful kids.

By: Heidi Hawkins

Heidi Hawkins — Tue, 05 Feb 2013 15:33:17 +0000

I felt and still feel every one of these emotions either currently or at one point in time. You express feelings that I hadn’t been able to verbalized, so thank you!

By: Amber

Amber — Mon, 17 Dec 2012 02:28:25 +0000

I cried reading this. At 28 weeks, I went into pre-term labor but it was successfully stopped. And then at 32 weeks we were back in the hospital and released once again. My girl is still cooking so I know I can’t completely relate but in so many ways I do. I get so mad at the women who hate being pregnant, who can’t wait until they deliver, who don’t take care of themselves during their pregnancy. I feel so guilty for putting her through this and I wish there was something I could do to make it alright for her and I can’t. And it breaks my heart everyday knowing that she could come at any time and not be ready. I feel so alone because nobody I know has ever gone through this. So far I’ve gotten no explanation as to why I’ve been in pre-term labor and it’s so frustrating because nothing anyone says will ever make me feel like this isn’t my fault.