Maryam: Our First Little Miracle

Mum Zeenat and Dad Aamir Ali were expecting their very first baby on December 21st, 2020.

She was their little COVID baby. Pregnancy came with all the nausea, exhaustion and everything else that comes with growing a tiny human, but through it all, Mum and Dad were overjoyed — especially when they found out they were having a baby girl.

At around 28 weeks, Mum was diagnosed with gestational diabetes (GDM), but otherwise, the pregnancy had been progressing smoothly.

On October 28th, at 32 weeks pregnant, Mum remembers calling Dad after a growth scan and an appointment with the diabetes team. Baby was measuring a little smaller than average, but there was nothing concerning. In fact, the news brought some relief because it meant an early induction was no longer part of the plan.

Baby was healthy. Mum was doing well.

They still had eight weeks to go — or so they thought.

Not long after arriving home, Mum made another call to Dad.

Her waters had broken.

But baby was still moving, Mom was exhausted, and she already had an appointment with her midwife the following day. Being a first-time mom, she didn’t fully understand what was about to unfold. She thought she could rest and speak to her midwife in the morning.

On October 29th, Mum was sent to Middlemore Hospital, where she was told she had lost all of her amniotic fluid. She was admitted so that she and baby could be closely monitored.

Then, at around 11 p.m., Mum felt her first contraction.

She had never experienced labour before. Everything happened so quickly that somewhere between the contractions, fear, pain and confusion, Mum completely forgot to call Dad and tell him that their baby was coming.

By the time Dad entered the delivery suite, he was already a dad.

At 2:15 a.m. on October 30th, 2020, their little girl entered the world at just 32 weeks gestation, weighing 1.9kg.

Mum was exhausted. She barely had the chance to see her baby before the NICU team took over.

There was no skin-to-skin.

No quiet moment with her newborn lying on her chest.

No time to study every little feature of the baby she had carried for 32 weeks.

No opportunity to capture and memorise that beautiful first meeting she had imagined throughout her pregnancy.

There was simply a tiny cry, a glimpse of her little girl — and then she was taken to NICU.

Four hours later, after Mum had been stitched, showered and gathered whatever strength she had left, Mum and Dad walked together to NICU to properly meet their firstborn.

And there she was.

So incredibly tiny, surrounded by equipment, in a place neither of them had ever imagined their journey into parenthood would begin.

They had expected to meet her in December.

Instead, she arrived eight weeks early and introduced them to an entirely different world.

That morning, they didn’t just meet their daughter. They became Mum and Dad in a way they could never have prepared themselves for.

Their journey into parenthood began in NICU — with a 1.9kg baby girl who had already shown them just how much strength could exist inside the tiniest little body.

Maryam had a little jaundice and received light therapy. Otherwise, she was growing and thriving.

Mum was suddenly learning about motherhood, NICU and breastfeeding all at once. During a time when COVID meant access to resources was very limited, she met a Little Miracles Trust representative and received a care package. The Trust did its best to offer comfort and support during an incredibly challenging time.

One of Mum’s biggest struggles was leaving her baby behind each day. She would sit in the car park and cry, finding it difficult to drive away without Maryam. The hospital was only ten minutes from home, but even that short distance felt enormous when it meant being separated from her little girl.

But she kept going. She became stronger than she realised she could be, returning to NICU every day to be with Maryam and taking things one day at a time.

Maryam progressed from Level 3 to Level 2 care within a few days, before moving to Level 1 care. She then spent a week in a parent room with Mum, working on feeding and gaining enough weight to go home.

Dad first met Maryam at home when she was three weeks old, at a corrected gestational age of 35 weeks. Aamir was scared that everything was happening too quickly and that it was too soon for their NICU journey to end. But Mum already knew in her heart that Maryam was ready to come home.

Once Maryam had reached 2.2kg, was taking full bottle feeds and was gaining weight, Mom signed her discharge against medical advice. The isolation of COVID and not being able to have Aamir by her side had made an already difficult journey even harder. Mum felt confident that her baby girl was ready to leave the hospital and begin life at home, and she made the decision to take her home.

Maryam turned one, and on October 30th, 2026, celebrated her sixth birthday. She is already in Year One and is still very much Mum and Dad’s baby — and the boss of their little household!

She is now a big sister to a little sister and a brother, and she loves being the eldest.

Maryam still has that fighting spirit, strength and endurance that carried her through the very beginning of her life. She isn’t afraid to speak her mind, and her beautiful smile has a way of helping her get away with things. But Aamir and Zeenat wouldn’t have it any other way.

She will always be their first — their first baby, their first NICU journey and the little girl who helped shape them into the parents they are today.