Premature baby defied the odds after early birth

FOR parents, hearing the sound of your baby’s laughter is incredibly precious.

For Vicki and Adam Aldridge, it’s heaven-sent, after their daughter Sophia was born very prematurely last year at just 26 weeks.

Tiny Sophia weighed just 2lb 5oz after Vicki experienced severe pregnancy complications.

“I had hyperemesis from six weeks into my pregnancy,” Vicki explains.

“I was sick constantly. It was exactly the same as when I was expecting our older daughter, Mia.”

Vicki was hospitalised several times because she has Type 1 diabetes and, at her 20-week scan it was discovered that she had a condition called placenta praevia, where the placenta is positioned low in the uterus and covers all or part of the cervix.

This can cause severe bleeding before or during labour and is a serious complication.

“I was told I might have a slight bleed and that I’d have to have a Caesarean section,” Vicki recalls.

“I wasn’t overly concerned as I’d had to have a C-section with Mia.”

Unfortunately, Vicki experienced major blood loss 25 weeks into her pregnancy, and Adam rushed her to their local hospital in Pembury, Kent.

“I lost six pints of blood,” Vicki recalls.

“The doctors said I needed to be transferred to Brighton, but I didn’t want to go, as it would mean being such a long way from Mia who was only six at the time.

“I realised I had no choice, though.”

At 26 weeks pregnant, Vicki was transferred to Medway Maritime Hospital, where babies born before 28 weeks can be cared for in the Oliver Fisher Neonatal Intensive Care Unit.

“At the time, you think: ‘This just can’t be happening,’” Vicki explains.

“I was scared, I was terrified, thinking: ‘Is my baby going to make it?’”

Even though it would mean baby Sophia being born extremely prematurely, deepening concerns about Vicki’s wellbeing led her consultant to decide that a planned Caesarean was the best option for both mother and baby.

“The bleeding was getting worse,” reveals Vicki.

“But in the end, I thought: ‘If she is born, then they can stop worrying about me and concentrate on Sophia.’”

On June 17, 2015, baby Sophia, whose original due date was September 27, was delivered by C-section.

“We were in theatre for five hours,” Vicki says.

“Sophia was born into a plastic bag and they whisked her straight off to special care.”

Sadly, Vicki was unable to see her newborn daughter for the first 24 hours because of further serious bleeding after the operation.

But seeing Sophia for the very first time is a moment she will never forget.

“It was amazing,” she reveals.

“I was in agony, but I didn’t care — I just needed to be there.

“I knew Sophia would be tiny and that there would be tubes everywhere.

“We’d done our best to prepare Mia for that, but it was still shocking. Sophia did have a good colour, though!”

After two weeks in the special care unit, Sophia was transferred back to Pembury.

Unfortunately, the tube that was providing her with nutrients became infected and she became very unwell.

“We got a call at 1.30am to say our baby was not doing very well and needed to be intubated,” Vicki explains.

“I had the horrible feeling that we were being prepared for what could be a bad situation.”

But Sophia pulled through and, at long last, Vicki and Adam were allowed to cuddle their tiny daughter.

After a few more days in the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU), Sophia was moved to the high dependency unit and then, after nine weeks, she was finally strong enough to be cared for on the nursery ward.

Sophia was still so small and vulnerable that she continued to need help with her breathing, from a ventilator.

“She kept pulling the tubes out!” Vicki remembers.

“Sophia came home on September 13, two weeks before her original due date, weighing 5lbs 4oz.

“It was quite a journey for us as parents because for so many weeks, there’d been a team of people caring for your baby. Suddenly, it’s just you!”

Despite such a difficult beginning, Sophia soon settled into family life and now, aged 11 months, she’s doing well.

“Sophia is a very laid back, calm and happy baby — except when she wants food,” smiles her proud mum.

“She tells me with a red face that she’s hungry — I can read her like a book!

“She has just learned to sit up properly and wants to grab everything and be in the thick of the action.

“Sophia has a cheeky smile and the one person who can make her really laugh is her big sister Mia, who’s now seven and adores her.

“Thankfully, Sophia’s hitting all her milestones for her ‘corrected age’, taking into account how very early she was born.”

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