Tex was born extremely premature at 26 weeks and 5 days weighing 949 grams, on 31/12/23 at 1:43 in the morning. The pregnancy was fairly normal to start off with, morning sickness all day for months, gestational diabetes and then at one of our ultrasounds at around 22 weeks we discovered my cervix was open. I was taken to Monash Medical Centre by ambulance which was a very scary experience as we didn’t know what our options were and what would happen to our baby. Ultimately, we decided to go with the cerclage stitch to keep me pregnant for as long as possible.

Three weeks after having the stitch put in, I woke up and my waters had broken. This resulted in another ambulance trip to Monash where I had the stitch removed and would then stay on bed rest for about 3 weeks, which is when I went into labour. While I was on bedrest I was given steroids and other medications to help Tex’s lungs grow. Tex was born within a couple of hours. It was a natural birth, but the placenta was stuck so I had to go to theatre to have that taken out. The team from the NICU were in the room waiting for him to be born and took him to the NICU not long after he was born. His dad went with him, but as I couldn’t walk after going to theatre it was hours before I was able to go and see him.

 Tex’s journey started off quite well in the NICU, until day 16 where he had emergency surgery for Necrotizing enterocolitis (NEC) and had 15cm of his small intestine removed and a stoma was formed. This was complicated by a breakdown of the skin on his abdomen which was something medical staff had not seen before. This wound took months to heal and early on, medical staff were unsure if it would heal at all. This meant we were unable to upgrade feeds, so Tex has been reliant on Parenteral Nutrition since then. Initially her was given this neutron through a PICC line in his leg, this line actually broke when doctors tried to remove it and plastic surgeons had to remove it, fortunately they saved his vein. This was another thing medical staff had not seen before. Tex then had a Central line put in by the anaesthetist and he still has that to this day.

In between all of this Tex had a Sagittal Sinus Thrombosis, which is a clot in one of the sinuses in your brain. Once again, we were told this is very rare and that doctors were actually unsure how to treat it in a premature baby and were in communications with doctors overseas. They were able to get rid of this with a blood thinner and the neonatologist is actually writing a research paper on it at the moment that will be published in a medical journal. Tex has also had multiple infections, blood transfusions and been on many different medications. As well as being on and off many different oxygen supports.

 The stoma reversal surgery went well, but was very complex given the large wound on his abdomen from the skin breakdown. He has a large confronting scar on his abdomen and no belly button which we joke will be his party trick when he is older. His biggest challenge now is his ability to tolerate and absorb his feeds, so he will be coming home very soon on Parenteral Nutrition and with a nasogastric tube.