hey im cloe. I had my baby girl charlotte on 7th march. she was 14weeks premature. she is now 6 weeks old and doing well. Just wondered if anyone else could relate to me as i feel so alien. plus it doesnt help when you go to the hospital and see the new mums carrying their babys out to go home. just feel an emotional wreck and have a very low income so getting in debt and cant afford to pay bills. so someone to chat to would be nice. :)

hi cloe, congrats on your little girl. I had my little girl on the 11th feb and she was 7 weeks early due to severe pre-enclampsia. She is 10 weeks old now and 7lb 8 oz and is home. Glad to here that charlotte is doing well. i felt the same when other mums were taking there babies home but your time will come and there will be another mum being envious of you aswell. so keep your chin up and u will soon be proudly carrying her away from the neonatal unit and all this pain and anxiety will soon become just a memory.
Have you applied for any help with your finances? a sure start maternity grant? or tax credits? (if u or your partner are working)

Hi Cloe, congratulations on the birth of Charlotte. Great news that she is doing so well. My son is 17 months now but I remember like yesterday how stressful it is having an early baby. I had days when I would cry for hours and others when I felt fine. Its an emotional rollercoaster and it definately helps to talk about it. Try giving the Benefits Agency a phone to see if your entitled to any benefits. I get Child Benefit and Tax Credits but you might be able to get more.
xxx

First Congratulations on the birth of your daughter. You must be a very proud mum. My daughter is 19 months and she was born at 34+4 weeks. She is doing brilliant and I have never looked back so keep your head up. The good thing is your daughter is doing well. Everyday she is getting closer to home. The hospital at the minute is obviously the best place for your lo and you want the best for your lo at all times. It is hard seeing other mums beinging their lo's home but your time will come soon. It probably seems far away but it won't be. I was lucky enough that Kara was only in SCBU for 2 weeks and had no problems. I would def go to your local benefits agency and find out what you are entitled to. Make sure you claim for child tax credit and child benefit straight away if not already done so.

Any questions feel free to ask and we will try our best to answer as we have already went through this and were grateful for the help we received on here.

Hey ! I had Oskar at 30 + 4 (2nd march) he spent 6 weeks in SCBU one weekend in another unit to have a herina op! It has been one rollercoster of a ride!! he has been home two weeks now still dont think he is mine? Is your baby still in hospital? How long have you been in ?
I dont have any words of wisdom on the money front. If your in alot of debt then you could do a debt management plan from the CCCS. You do everything on line they take over and deal with your debts direct.
hope this helps?

my baby was born at 32+5 on 30th october. she is 28 weeks or 20 weeks corrected. she is a little madam. she was lucky and was only in SCBU for 20days with no problems. i still remember how awful it was the following morning waking up on the ward without my baby when the other mums had theirs and when i came home without my baby

Hi,

Our story is identical to lindsey&esmie, Lily was born on 8th March 7 weeks early due to severe preclampsia. She is now 10 weeks old (tomorrow!) and is 7lb 15oz. I can totally relate to how you were feeling when everyone else had their babies with them and got to take them home, the worst day was me being discharged from hospital and leaving her there. But once their home it all becomes a distant memory. Like the others have said do some research on the internet, a lot of benefits your entitled to can be tricky to find so make sure your getting everything you are entitled to.

Clare x

Hi Cloe,

Congratulations on the birth of Charlotte. I had my son Flyn at 25+ weeks, on the 4th February 2009. He is now 15 weeks from birth, or just 2 days after his due date! I understand completley how your feeling. We spent 13 weeks and 1 day in NICU, the longest weeks of my life. Thankfully Flyn was discharged 2 weeks ago (today), its still hard though, its very isolating. Flyn came home on 0.03 of oxygen, which to us isnt an issue, but it does hinder me taking him out as i get tired of hearing people's insensitive comments. I remeber in the 13 weeks we spent in NICU seeing fathers carrying their full term newborns out of the hospital broke my heart, especially for my partner... But you do get there eventually babe.

If theres anything i can do to help, even if its just to chat. Im here.

Love Nik xxx

Congratulations on the birth of Charlotte!!
When i had my baby 34+ i had a c-sec and was taken to the mat ward 24hrs after having her - at 3am in the morning I was ready for killing a midwife as I lay in my bed listening to all the other babies with their mums. I really thought I was going to have a breakdown, no way did I think I'd be strong enough to deal with the emotions of everything going on - but I did and you will too.
I got taken in a wheelchair to the neonatal unit at 4am and I sat by my dd incubator for 3hrs solid crying my eyes out!!
The staff in our unit were the biggest help to me, they gave us info about what money is available and everything. Speak to them, they may help you too. What about any other mums with babies in the unit, anyone there you could ask? Which hospital is Charlotte in?