‘It was all a blur’: Irish blogger Jodie Wood talks about her son’s premature birth

Today is World Prematurity Day, a day that will always be close to Jodie Wood’s heart.

Baby Milo is her first child and his birth did not go the way she had planned. Her boy was born seven weeks early after Jodie was rushed to the hospital for an early labour.

“Up until the day that I had him, it was a total normal pregnancy,” the mum explained. “There was no indication that anything was gonna happen early.”

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

A post shared by Jodie Matthews (Lawson-Wood) (@jodiewood_) on

Due to a medical condition she was born with, Jodie knew she would have to have a caesarean section.

“I had in my head, ‘This is amazing. I know the day I’m gonna have my baby’,” she thought.

But suddenly, something in her body didn’t feel right. “Two or three days before he was born, I was so uncomfortable. I was in a lot of pain,”Jodie said. But she kept dismissing the pains as a normal part of pregnancy.

“I thought it was just pelvic girdle pain or my body getting ready for the home run, the last stretch. But the day he arrived, the pain just got too bad. My mum was like ‘Come on, we’re going into the hospital’ and when I got in there I was already seven centimetres dilated.

“They had him out in about half an hour. It was definitely a shock. It was a big surprise.”

The whole thing happened so fast that Jodie’s husband wasn’t able to be there until later that night. He was doing a charity mountain climb in the French Alps and got the first flight home.

But she had her mum by her side the whole time. She even scrubbed in for the c-section - the first and last time she would be able to see her grandson for the next month.

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

A post shared by Jodie Matthews (Lawson-Wood) (@jodiewood_) on

Jodie described Milo’s time in the hospital as “an absolute whirlwind.” While she was able to briefly see her son after he was born, the nurses had to rush Milo to the NICU afterwards. And there he stayed for nearly a month until he was well enough to come home.

“When it’s your first baby, you don’t have anything to compare [the situation] to. I had seen parents skin-on-skin with their newborns, mums breastfeed straight away and all the normal things you think you’re going to be able to do when your new baby arrives.

“And, of course, none of that is on the table when it’s a premature birth. He was put into an incubator straight away so we actually didn’t get to see him until six or seven hours after he was born. I’d only seen him for maybe 30 seconds in the delivery suite.”

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

A post shared by Jodie Matthews (Lawson-Wood) (@jodiewood_) on

“Once they’re hooked up to all the monitors, you can’t have them out of the incubator for long periods of time. You’re really just getting five minutes here and there.

“Around the time when you have to change the nappy is the time that you can have the cuddle because that’s when they are out of the incubator. Then they’re fed and back in. So, you maybe get four five-ten minute cuddles a day.”

Jodie recalls that time as a blur of the same routine. She’d come in the morning, sit with Milo for up to 12 hours, and then go home to do it all again the next day.

But even though it was hard, she was able to pull through due to the support of her husband, the nurses, and other mums in the NICU.

“The nurses in the NICU are in a league of their own. They were probably the biggest help to us in the hospital. They taught us everything.

"So it was, in a way, nice because you come out of the hospital, picking up so many tips and tricks from the nurses and you gain so much experience.

“You get comfortable and climatised to holding the baby, [learn] how to change the baby and do the nappy, and how to stop him screaming like he is now in the background,” she laughed.

“The nurses definitely made the whole experience the nicest part of NICU.”

She also bonded with the other mums who were visiting their babies in the NICU. “There was a baby on each side of [Milo] and they had been there for a lot longer than we had been there. Their babies were born a lot earlier.

“And we all actually ended up leaving the NICU on the same day after weeks just by chance which was amazing.

“You sit next to each other for ten hours a day, and it is nice to have mums there next to you to be able to have the chats with. It does get you through the day, definitely by being in a room with people in the same boat.

“You all come from total different walks of life and you all have different ideas of what you want to parent like (whether you’re gonna breastfeed or not, what pram you got, etc.). You talk about everything and you’ve bonded together when you’re thrown into this situation together.”

She was able to find her own mum community within the hospital’s walls and build lasting friendships, learning so much about the road ahead in the process.

“It’s just a waiting game in NICU because, as long as your baby is healthy, you’re just waiting for them to make all the marks (the weight they have to be before they can go home).

"They’re not allowed to leave the hospital before 34 weeks of gestation, and they have to be able to feed by themselves and develop a suck and swallow reflex.”

And when they were finally allowed to come home, that’s when Jodie said her husband was able to truly bond with Milo.

“[Will] was such a big support to me and he was amazing. But it was only when we got to leave the hospital that he really got his time with Milo and started to bond with him properly.

“I think for the man it’s always harder at the beginning anyways because the mum has carried the baby and she’s already somewhat bonded over the pregnancy with the baby.”

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

A post shared by Jodie Matthews (Lawson-Wood) (@jodiewood_) on

Now Milo is a happy and healthy baby, weighing about four and a half kilos. “He is growing so much, he is twice the size he was when he was born now. So I feel like he’s huge even though he’s still so small.”

Jodie loves sharing her experience to help other mums in any was she can. The model also has some great advice on where to find supplies for premature babies:

“The Pampers premature range are going into the Rotunda now. They, unfortunately, weren’t available to us when we were there. But I know they are available to ever`y maternity hospital in the country. They’ll be available free of charge.

“Finding clothes was a nightmare because obviously I didn’t have any premature baby clothes bought. Shops don’t carry tiny premature lines. I think Next and Marks & Spencer ended up being where we were able to get a couple bits. And Mothercare was great for premature baby clothes.”

Milo was able to recover well with his parents by his side, and Jodie says he loves being home with the pair now.

Having a premature baby can be overwhelming, and it's important to remind yourself to not only lean on the nursing staff for help but to seek support from other mums.

There are over 15 million premature babies born each year, so you are not alone. There is always someone who has been through a similar experience and are willing to share their advice.

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