Katie Rebecca Thomas was born on Wednesday 8th April, 1998, 8 weeks early. When she was born she weighed 4lb 1 1/2oz. She needed ventilation for one day only. During this time she stayed in intensive care.

From intensive care, Katie was transferred to a high dependency room where she was still monitored twenty-four hours a day. She was gravity fed via a tube through her nose on a mixture of expressed breast milk and premature baby formula milk. She also received treatment for jaundice at this time - undergoing regular phototherapy sessions. She was blindfolded so that the bright light used did not affect her eyes.

We were allowed to take her out to hold her, feed her and wash her for what felt like very short periods.

After one failed attempt, Katie was successfully transferred to a crib. She was always wrapped in several layers of blankets and warm clothes.

No major problems were encountered and after three weeks she was moved to a low dependency room in preparation for going home. She had been given a dummy to encourage her sucking reflex which was underdeveloped. She struggled to cope with breastfeeding which lasted until June that year.

Four weeks after being born Katie was allowed home.

For the first year, Katie's progress was regularly monitored by the special care unit in Prince Charles Hospital, Merthyr Tydfil.

At the age of 2, Katie was a normal, happy, healthy two year old. She was doing everything expected of her and more.

At the age of 2 Katie completed the Splashathon event organised by Tommy's Campaign to raise money for Premature Babies. She splashed her way across one width of the pool and raised around £40.00 in doing so. She received a certificate and a hat. Katie was aware that she was helping to raise money to help special little babies. Katie will attempt the Splashathon in the Summer (2001).

Since Katie was born she has been a vegetarian. She eats no meat or fish and at the moment she doesn't eat sweets with gelatine in them.

Today, Katie is 3 years old. She started ballet classes two weeks before her 3rd birthday. Katie will be in her first ballet show in July 2001. She goes to playgroup twice a week and also goes to playschool in preparation for full-time Welsh Nursery School in September. She is a very happy child, she is full of energy and many consider her to be very bright. Unfortunately Katie still has her dummy (at least three) which she is refusing to give up at the moment (38 months).

Monday 9th July, 2001 was a special day for Katie. She woke up in the morning and said "I am going to throw my dummies away", nothing was said but during a visit to her Grandmother's house she actually threw them in the bin. It was also a special day because she went to visit her Welsh Primary School for the first time. She thoroughly enjoyed herself. In the evening Katie was taken to a large toy shop to choose a present for 'giving up her dummies (3)' she choose a new bike. "But I still want my dummies" was her reply in the evening. Fortunately Katie went to sleep without them. We are very proud of her.

On Wednesday 11th July, 2001 Katie completed her second Splashathon event for Tommy's. She had to splash (but she chose to swim with her armbands) across a width of the local swimming pool (12 meters). Katie has raised £60.00 to help other special babies like her.

On Saturday 21st July, 2001 Katie took part in a show "100 Clever Kids in Summertime". It was a mixture of ballet, tap and modern dance.

On Wednesday 5th September, 2001 Katie started school. She had a very enjoyable day but she did say that her teacher "made her very tired". Hopefully early bed-times will follow.

On April 8th 2002 Katie celebrated her 4th birthday. She is looking forward to having a baby brother or sister in the summer.