Jennifer is a long-term First Touch supporter and she shares her story here:
From the moment I found out I was pregnant I was continuously in hospital with bleeding. During the Covid pandemic it was a nightmare not being able to have visitors or to see my other children, as well as having Covid tests etc. St George’s Hospital was amazing at keeping me relaxed and reassured me many times, always there when needed. On the 12th November 2020 at 23 weeks, I started losing a huge amount of blood, which was a massive scare to me and my partner. I was rushed by ambulance to hospital, thinking I was losing my baby boy. I found out my waters had broken but no labour had started yet. I had to have the most scary and in-depth talk with the neonatal unit and was warned that Ezekiel’s chances were slim. I was kept under close monitoring and infection markers constantly checked. My partner was faced with the possibility of having to make some terrible choices if the worst came to the worst.
Thankfully it didn’t come to that. I continued to carry Ezekiel until the 17th December 2020 at 28 weeks, when I went into labour and gave birth at 2cm dilated. Ezekiel weighed just 1085 grams. All the nurses, midwifes, doctors, consultants were absolutely fantastic! He was kept in hospital until 25th February 2021 and came home on oxygen. The journey was really hard but I’m forever thankful to all the staff that helped me in through our journey and thankful to have my baby boy turning 4 years old in December this year.
