Clarecastle mother recalls premature births

THERE are 4,500 babies born prematurely in Ireland each year but unfortunately approximately 500 of these newborns do not survive. Next Thursday is World Prematurity Day and Clarecastle parents, Michelle and Halim Ammara will be celebrating their two little miracles that day.
Two-year-old Farah and nine-month-old Jena were both born prematurely but today they are thriving. Michelle tells The Clare Champion of their daunting journey from the day she learned she had pre-eclampsia to the day she could bring little Farah and Jena home.
Farah was born in March 2009 at 32 weeks and five days and weighed just 3lbs 2oz or 1.41g, while her sister Jena was born this year in January at 28 weeks and four days, weighing just 866g, less than 2lbs.
When she was pregnant with Farah, Michelle learned she had pre-eclampsia, which came as a big shock. However, the next knock came at 32 weeks when Farah was delivered.
“The neonatal unit was closed in Limerick, so I had to go Galway, Cork or Dublin, whichever one had a bed for me, that was the first huge thing. I went to Galway and Farah spent two weeks there and one week in Limerick when a bed became available,” she said.
Michelle was kept in hospital for seven days so she could be close to Farah but for the second week she commuted with the help of family and friends.
“It was the most traumatic day of my life leaving her in Galway. On the first day, especially, it was so hard. You can’t describe it, you have to go through it. They were never worried about Farah’s survival, everything was perfect but she needed to grow and learn to feed. She was in an incubator for three weeks and then two days later she was let home because she was feeding very well,” she explained.
Even though she was in the incubator, Michelle could touch her and hold her but it was very difficult for her and she spent every minute she could with her over the 23 days Farah was kept in hospital.
“She was just 4lbs when she came home. I was delighted to have her home and there wasn’t a bother on her then, she just needed to grow. By the time she reached four months you wouldn’t have known she was premature, she had caught up,” Michelle outlined.
With her history of pre-eclampsia, Michelle said she panicked when she learned she was pregnant again.
“It was panic stations when I found out I was pregnant. I was very worried about high blood pressure and it was established at 20 weeks so I was very nervous and worried. I was on medication from 20 weeks and then I was brought into hospital at 27 weeks. I was told I was definitely going to go early but they were going to keep me there as long as they could without delivering. I was in hospital for nine days before Jena was delivered where they were scanning every day to make sure the blood flow was ok,” she said.
Michelle said she was traumatised the day her doctor told her she would be having her section.
“I was told she was safer out than in at that stage but the doctor reassured me and gave me good hope. Obviously there are an awful lot of problems that come when babies are early that you would be worried about, such as they may have to be ventilated because their lungs aren’t able to breathe on their own,” she explained.
Michelle had an injection a week before baby Jena was born to help mature her lungs in the event of delivery to give her a better chance of breathing on her own and this did have an effect, according to Michelle.
“It was never touch and go with Jena, but the first 24 hours are crucial. They didn’t worry with her because they didn’t have to ventilate her. She was breathing on her own but with the help of a C-PAP machine. She had that for seven days but she started to get infections in her tummy so they decided to ventilate her because she was working too hard to breathe while fighting the infection. She was ventilated for seven days and she decided she had enough and took matters into her own hands and pulled out the ventilator. This was the night before they had decided they would take it out. She just didn’t like it,” Michelle revealed.
One of the primary concerns when Jena was born was the possibility of her suffering a brain bleed but thankfully it wasn’t an issue.
“I got a shock when I saw her first. The room was a blur because I was so out of it. Jena was born at 2pm but I didn’t see her until 1am, 11 hours later. I was still sick at that stage and my husband was down with her all day,” she said.
Having spent 12 days in hospital with Jena, Michelle said it was the hardest thing to leave her knowing she would be in for so long.
“She had a few infections in her tummy and establishing feeding was her main problem. Because she was so tiny and premature, handling breast milk was difficult. Jena was nearly two weeks old before I held her. It was a fabulous and beautiful moment. I was over the moon. You can still touch them in the incubator by putting your hands in and hugging them but that’s hard,” she added.
Michelle said she would be up in the middle of the night wondering how Jena was doing and wanting to know when she was coming home. However, Jena was being tube fed so before they could think about letting her home, she had to be feeding continuously from a bottle for three or four days.
“I was so worried because she had no interest in feeding from a bottle. On her actual due date, she started feeding from a bottle. Four days later she was home. It was like something clicked with her. Every baby is different. I was going by my experience with Farah but they all do it in their own time. The nurses would say to me, ‘Michelle stop worrying she’ll do it when she’s ready’. I thought she’d never feed from a bottle but she did. What I would say to anyone who is going through it is it seems like it’s never going to end and you’re never going to get out of there but you will when the baby is ready,” she advised.
Jena was in hospital for 12 weeks in total and after she came home she got a chest infection so she spent another six to seven days in Limerick Regional Hospital.
“I was away from Farah a long time and Limerick maternity was dealing with the swine ’flu bug so my husband and I were the only ones allowed in to see her so it was very traumatic on Farah,” Michelle outlined.
Michelle admits she was very scared when she had Jena and said she had no other choice but to get on with things.
“It was a total shock but you have to get on with it because it’s your baby at the end of the day. You still have to nourish them and give them a cuddle. It’s getting easier now but I still worry coming into the cold season about her. She still has appointments and she had a little hernia operation in the summer. She’s really tough. Even though she is so small she’s tougher than anyone and she’s doing great now,” she explained.
Any worries that Michelle had about Fara being jealous of her little sister went out the window the day Farah met Jena for the first time.
“Farah absolutely loves her sister. She’s so protective of her. She’s kissing her since the day she came home from the hospital. We’ve come a long way now. Jena is so placid and is taking her spoon feeds so we can see an improvement in her every week. The two are smothered in love,” Michelle said.
For anyone with a premature baby or who is worried and looking for support, Michelle advises they log onto www.irishpreamturebabies.com as until she found out about this organisation she felt very alone.
“They answer so many questions. There’s an awful lot of medical jargon that you have to come to terms with and they just explain everything to you in plain English. You meet so many people that have been through it.
“I knew nobody when I had Farah. I didn’t even know what a premature baby was. I found it a fantastic support. They have a Facebook page and there are so many mothers on it that you can get advice and support from. It’s good to talk to somebody who has been through it,” she concluded.
To mark World Prematurity Day on Thursday, November 17 there will be a balloon release at 4pm from Samuel Beckitt Bridge in Dublin where pink and blue balloons will be released to symbolise the 4,500 babies who are born premature in Ireland every year and white balloons to represent the 500 babies that pass away each year.
In addition, the group will launch a new book entitled Tiny Footprints, which tells the story of 80 parents from around the country who have experienced premature birth. Jena and Farah are featured in the publication and copies are available by logging onto the website at www.irishprematurebabies.com.
All the proceeds from the book will go towards the cost of providing accommodation for parents.