My baby was born at 27 weeks and spent 73 days in the hospital. He's now a curious toddler.
Courtesy of Megan Beake
- Megan Beake gave birth to her baby, Riley, at 27 weeks gestation.
- Riley is now 18 months old and thriving since spending 73 days in the hospital after his birth.
- This is Beake's story, as told to Gabriella Ferlita.
This as-told-to essay is based on a conversation with Megan Beake. It has been edited for length and clarity.
We were preparing for Riley's arrival just as the leaves would begin changing color in September. But the universe had other plans, and our miracle boy was born at 27 weeks, in the midst of the British summer, on June 27 — about 13 weeks early.
When he was born, after briefly cuddling his tiny, 2-pound, 5-ounce body, he was stabilized and taken to the neonatal intensive care unit, where he was covered with wires and placed in an incubator to keep him warm.
Riley was on a drip and a Vapotherm machine that provided him with oxygen to help keep his lungs open through a nasal cannula. He had a feeding tube in his mouth. He had cannulas in his hand and foot. He had a long line on the top of his arm going to his heart. He was placed under a blue light because he had jaundice. His heart rate, pulse, oxygen levels, and body temperature were constantly monitored.
It was never-ending. But behind all of those wires and machines was my little Riley, and we so desperately wanted him to be OK.
Surviving the NICU is a journey in itself
We stayed in the NICU for around two weeks with our little fighter — and it was a long journey full of setbacks. It always felt like one step forwards and 10 steps back.
Courtesy of Megan Beake
The NICU is a scary place full of lots of noisy machines constantly beeping, incubators with tiny babies inside, as well as lots of nurses, doctors, and consultants caring for our little heroes.
Despite being so premature, Riley had a fairly smooth journey compared to what some other babies face. But he did struggle to empty his bowels because of his underdeveloped digestive system. Thankfully, he didn't have an infection and was able to have a bowel movement with the help of a suppository.
Riley was on many medications and supplements, including caffeine, vitamins, iron, probiotics, milk thickener, fortified human milk, and antibiotics. But after struggling with tachycardia — or a faster-than-normal heart rate — doctors halved his caffeine, then eventually stopped it. This helped his heart rate, but Riley began to tire more easily and struggled to breathe, so had to depend on the nasal cannula.
Against the odds, Riley made it out of the woods
Our little one also underwent regular brain scans via ultrasound to check for any bleeds, as well as regular eye tests to check for retinopathy of prematurity. This eye disease can cause abnormal blood vessels to grow in the retina and can lead to blindness. Thankfully, Riley's test results were always clear.
He was slowly weaned off the Vapotherm machine, and in just over two weeks, he was breathing on his own and was able to be moved from the NICU to a high-dependency unit — a big step for our little man.
At 2 weeks and 2 days old, Riley was able to wear clothes for the first time. His first outfit was a tiny little vest that was the size of my palm. After a few days in high dependency, he was moved to special care — the last step before we brought him home.
Once he reached 34 weeks gestation, we were able to begin breastfeeding. It took Riley a few weeks to be strong enough to do a full feed — and we would continue our breastfeeding journey well past his first birthday.
I was able to stay in the ward and feed him. During the first night, he slept through a couple of feeds, so was still fed via a tube. But on the second night, he took all the feeds from me, so he was able to stay in the hospital room with me. That night, we gave him his first real bath. He absolutely loved it and fed beautifully all night.
Bringing Riley home was a relief
After 73 days in the hospital, we were allowed to go home with our baby, and we could finally breathe a sigh of relief. His big brother was so excited to meet him, although he thought he was a doll when he first saw him.
The end of December marked his 18-month milestone, or 15 months corrected, and I couldn't be any more proud of him. Since taking his first few steps on my birthday, he has been toddling everywhere. He's a very determined little boy and never gives up, and we never gave up on him, either.