Before you jump on me and tell me that they are, of course they are – all babies are cute! But the meaning behind the title of this blog is about so much more.
As a preemie parent, how often have you heard “oh I wish my baby was this tiny!! How cute!?” Or “you’re so lucky that you got to spend extra time with your baby”
Really!?
Only when you have a child born earlier than they were supposed to come will you understand how frustrating it is to hear that and how upsetting it is when you read about people trying to bring labour on early.
Here are a few facts about having a premature baby that you may not realise if you haven’t given birth early.
Did you know that you probably won’t hold your baby straight away?
You might not even see them!
When my son was born, I genuinely didn’t even know if he was ok, he didn’t cry when he came out and was whisked very quickly away by a lot of people trying to save his life.
It wasn’t until he was about 6/7 hours old that I actually got a glimpse of him in that incubator and it was SIX days before I got a cuddle.
To see your newborn baby with wires everywhere and breathing equipment is the most scary thing and then leaving the hospital on your own to a silent home is something I can’t even explain, you hear stories of people being up all night with their crying baby wanting a rest and all you can think is how jealous you are of that, you would do anything to have your little baby home.
There are SO many risks and complications from having a premature baby too, it’s usually only the good stories that you hear!
But the reality is that a lot of premature babies face a lot of difficulties even after they have left the hospital.
They are so much more vulnerable for at least the first year of their life so what you might just think is a little cold could actually put a preemie back in hospital!
So, having a premature baby isn’t “cute” it’s actually terrifying and my heart goes out to all the parents who have had to go through that journey.