Your Carrying Story – Lizzie

My little boy was born at 26 weeks gestation with absolutely no warning and he arrived just 17 minutes after arriving in hospital in an ambulance. He spent nearly 13 weeks in two different hospitals and came home on oxygen which he stayed on for a further 5 months and suffered from pneumonia so was readmitted to HDU.

Through his time in the NICU one of the hardest things for me was not being able to hold him all the time. He found being out of the incubator tiring and it would often impact on his saturation levels. I had ‘worn’ his older sister almost constantly when she was a baby and found it heart-breaking to be physically apart from my baby especially when I had to leave him every night as parents weren’t allowed to stay, and I also had to be there for my other child.

I was very nervous about carrying him when he came home as he was still on oxygen, but I found a sling which had been approved for use with preemies and this saved my life. I’d struggled to bond with him initially due to the huge shock so being able to have him that close to me really helped with the bonding and meant that I was still able to get out and about with his older sister (I would have him in the sling and oxygen tank on my back while helping her in her gymnastics class, changing her for swimming and walking our dogs).

Having him physically against me also helped to regulate his breathing and meant I could literally feel it if he was struggling. I still carry him now nearly two years on from his discharge, when he lets me as he is very independent! There are few things I like more than him falling asleep in the sling as we walk our dogs

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