Anastasia Lee
(25 Weeks)
I can understand the distress that parents feel when they have a premature baby. I am a single mother who gave birth to a baby girl (Anastasia Lee) at 25 weeks gestation on December 6th 2000. She was born weighting 2lbs 2 ounces and lost one pound in the hospital over the first night. When she was born the OB on call told me that my baby had a 10 percent chance of surviving, and he couldnt explain why I had gone into premature labour. I live in North Bay Onatario and the facilities at the hospital here are too old and weak to take care of a baby that small, two hours after she came into this world she was flown down to the children's hospital in Ottawa were she spent 3 and 1/2 months in the neonatal ICU. Fifteen days after she arrived in Ottawa she had to undergo emergency heart surgery, four days following that she was diagnosed with Septicima. She was taken off of food and all of the IVs were taken out for five days (the nurses couldnt help her, she wasnt allowed anything going into her body until the test result can back, not even an IV to feed her. After the five day waiting period, the tests came back as negative, all of her IV's were placed back in her and she was allowed to have food again.)
Anastasia was placed on a breathing tube when she was born and stayed on it till three months after she was born, as well as being places in a incubator for those three months. Early March I recieved a phone call asking if I could travel to Ottawa (5 hours south of where I live) they told me not to worry nothing was wrong. I travelled down there on the first bus that was leaving to go to Ottawa, when I got to her room they had moved her to a infant bed and had removed all of her tubes and IVs. (Except her tube to going from her nose, the outside to her stomach that was meant to feed her). I was so happy I broke down crying. The nurses told me that she one day just balanced her body temperature and started breathing over her breathing tubes. I was so happy. 7 days later she was classified as "safe to travel". I was able to escort my baby to the North Bay Hospital where she spent 3 more weeks in the nursery. She was finally in her home city. Now my parents could see her and so could me friends. That must of been on of the happiest days of my life.
Now Anastasia is almost 1 year old and is as healthy as any other 11 month old baby. She is currently a nice 17lb 5 onces and still growing strong, crawling up on everything and learning to walk.
My advice for any parent with a premature baby is not to lose hope and keep trying one day there will be a day where everything turns around and your baby will be fine. Babies are strong just let them do ther own thing and they will "pop" back around. In my case the doctor said my baby wouldn't live, now she is a healthy and strong little girl getting into everything.
Written with permission from Anastasia's mother.
Nov 2001