It took me a while to get my head around the fact that I’d had my baby girl, Eva, at 29+4 weeks. I didn’t go into hospital because of anything wrong with the pregnancy, but because I needed to have my asthma checked. I was seen by the pregnancy triage and while I was there, they put a heartbeat monitor on my bump, just by chance, to check how she was doing.
That was when they discovered her heart rate was dropping. After a couple of hours of monitoring her, it was decided that if she didn’t come out, we were going to lose her. So, within 15 minutes of that decision, I was in theatre having a c-section and she was out.
I was in shock for a couple of days. I just assumed I would have a term baby, bring her home and that everything would be fine. But not only did we have Eva nearly 11 weeks early, but because of COVID-19, nothing about becoming parents has been as we expected.
To minimise the spread of the virus, neonatal units have had to change their visiting policies, and at ours, it is one parent per day. So me, and my husband Darren now alternate seeing her with him going one day and me going the next. I find it hard, when it is his turn, not seeing her and not being able to do things for her.