Day 1
After a challenging few days Edie was born. We abandoned a camping holiday 2 hours after setting up the tent and rushed to the hospital. Our booking hospital (East Surrey) made a brave call to transfer us to St. Peter’s in Chertsey to give our baby the best chance. Edie arrived just a day later weighing 570 grams and at 23 weeks + six days gestation. A consultant tells us she has just 5 to 10% chance of survival, given her extreme prematurity and extremely low birth weight. We get to see Edie for just a few seconds after she is born before the staff of the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit stabilise her and whisk her away.
Redditor David recently posted a touching collection of photographs documenting the survival of his premature daughter from birth to age one.
Little Edie was born 16 weeks premature due to an infection, and weighed only 570 grams—her chances of survival were pegged at between five and ten percent.
As he didn’t know how long she would live, David started taking pictures to record the precious moments with his daughter.
In an interview with PetaPixel, he described the experience as a rollercoaster of emotions, recalling heart-stopping instances when Edie or one of the other babies stopped breathing, or when one of the other sets of parents lost their baby.
Despite the difficult situation he and his wife were in, he counted themselves as being very lucky in having decisions, both informed and blind, turn out well.
“Edie isn’t just one of the 5% of babies that survive extremely premature birth and extremely low birth weight, she is doing exceptionally well—to the point where even the neonatal specialist she sees quarterly is surprised.”
Scroll down to learn more about Edie’s miraculous journey, and view the entire set here.
Day 2
Time feels like it is in slow motion. Just a single day has passed, but it feels like a week. Edie’s skin is already maturing, but is very sticky to the touch. Her incubator is kept at 80-90% humidity to help her retain fluid.
Day 7
First attempt at breathing without the ventilator. Edie lasted nearly two days but started to get into respiratory distress, so was put back on the ventilator the next day.
Day 8
First family photo. David (me), Esme, Sally and Edie. Who says British people have bad teeth?!
Day 28
Edie is starting to look more like a full-term baby, particularly with respect to the size of her head compared to her body.
Day 45
After two days on BiPAP, Edie has progressed to Vapotherm, which is also known as High Flow Therapy. She is given humidified oxygen through the nasal cannula, but because she is calm and breathing well she is only breathing 25% O2.
Day 107
Edie’s first bath! She has been given daily top & tail washes with cotton wool and water, but the soap could be dodged no longer—especially because the oxygen saturation probe which is wrapped around a foot has been getting noticeably cheesy, even though they are changed regularly. Edie was not fazed by the experience.
Day 118
We are now outside the neonatal unit. Edie seems relaxed. She is going home on an oxygen supply, which will make things interesting.
The staff at East Surrey hospital have been fantastic, continuing the trend of excellence we saw at St. Peter’s. Although we are heading home, East Surrey hospital and the local community healthcare team continue to support us, initially with daily, then weekly visits. We have met a staggering number of highly skilled and kind people over these last few months who have contributed to Edie’s care. There are too many people to name. We cannot thank you enough, we know that she would only have lived a few minutes without your care.
[via PetaPixel and Reddit, images and captions via Imgur]