When I was pregnant, like many ‘soon to be’ parents, my mind was buzzing with what was happening, what could happen and was about to happen.

I never thought however, that I’d go early. My worries were mostly about labour and the baby’s health once she arrived. Daisy arrived prematurely at 35 weeks and 3 days because of a ‘preterm rupture of membranes’ put plainly, my waters broke at 34 weeks and 6 days and she held tight for a few days after that. Every day she stayed in my tummy was a day closer to full health. That’s how I saw it. It was a tense and quite scary time.

I was told on arrival at hospital after my waters broke that I’d be in hospital until the baby came. To which I said ‘a month in hospital?!’ And the doctor smiled and said ‘no, this baby will be here within the week.’ I didn’t know which was scarier 😳

Daisy came all by herself a few days later and thank the lord, my labour was straightforward. Once here, she was taken to the neonatal unit where she would stay for 12 days. Those 12 days were the hardest of parenting so far but she was exactly where she needed to be and thankfully james and I could be with her every day. 

In those 12 days the care we all received was second to none and bliss was a big part of that. We had an army of nurses and midwives at our disposal who were kind, caring and insanely knowledgeable. Every question we had, the team could answer and give us a bliss pamphlet to read to help us understand. It was genuinely a crash course in parenting which we were very grateful for. 

I'm taking on the Walk 50 Miles in December challenge for Bliss, the UK's leading charity helping babies born premature or full-term, but sick. 

1 in every 7 babies born in the UK will need specialist neonatal care, which means thousands of babies and their families seek information and support from Bliss every year. 

By sponsoring me, your donation will help Bliss continue their work to ensure that every baby born premature or full-term who needs neonatal care will have the best chance of survival and quality of life.