The little baby, Pace, was born 101 days early at 25 weeks weighing just 1lb 4oz, and was so tiny he was too frail to even hold or cuddle. To help him survive doctors kept Pace warm by placing him in a plastic drawstring neonatal bag moments after he was delivered. His parents Bella and Paul were making a 150-mile round-trip to visit their son as the tiny tot has spent the first weeks of his life in intensive care at the Children’s Hospital while his lungs are developing.
Bella, a receptionist who has three other children, was rushed to the hospital after her waters broke. She was transferred to a different hospital where doctors tried to delay labour but were forced to perform an emergency caesarean four days later. The 33-year-old said: “We’re getting there, slowly. “He was actually trying to be born at 24 weeks but we had some drugs to try and delay it. When he was at 25 weeks, he decided he had enough. “There was a chance of a premature birth as my previous 12-year-old was born 10 weeks early.
“When I went in, I was already 2cm diIated, so he was just desperate to come out. “I had some anti-clotting medication because I had been in bed for a week beforehand. “Because I had that I could not have had an epidural as I could have bled into my spine. “When he was born the doctors worked on him to get him breathing for five minutes. “They then they popped him in a neonatal bag, which is basically a drawstring bag type thing that is used to keep him warm because Pace couldn’t regulate his temperature. “If he was born at home, even putting him in a plastic bag would have helped.”
Despite his tiny size, Bella and Paul visit Pace every day and are now able to hold him. Bella said: “You can see how much he’s developing into a normal looking baby. “All that extra time you get with him that you normally wouldn’t get. It’s all the little things you take you for granted, like opening his eyes. “The first time we had a cuddle was when he was a week old. “He was minute and his skin is quite delicate so you could not touch him. “He just about fits in your hand, with a little leg hanging over. “Progress is slow, the lungs aren’t developed until 32 weeks. So he was on a ventilator at first and now he’s on a different breathing machine.”
