Ollie’s Early Arrival: Finding Strength at 26 Weeks

When our precious Ollie arrived into the world, it wasn’t the moment we had pictured it would be. As first-time parents, we imagined the three of us in our little family bubble with lots of cuddles and time together. But at 25 weeks, my waters broke, and at 26 weeks, Ollie was here – and the journey ahead looked very different from the picture we had imagined.

The week of my waters breaking was filled with immense anxiety, we were terrified! With steroid injections and bed rest, every hour that passed was counted. My husband and I created small milestones to get us through each day, keeping us positive and focused on those small goals. To make things more challenging, we were transferred by private plane and ambulance to Dunedin hospital because Christchurch NICU was over capacity. This added stress, being in an unfamiliar city without our support network, and made the journey ahead feel even more uncertain.

Ollie arrived one week later, born on 23 February 2025 weighing 1,070 grams – three months before his due date in May, he was an “extreme prem” and had some fighting ahead. We were overwhelmed and in complete shock. How is this us? He’s so early, so tiny. We were surrounded by medical staff, medical equipment and being asked to make a lot of decisions concerning Ollie’s health- it was a lot to take in. But Ollie was ours, and he was perfect. We knew we would be by his side every day as he grew stronger.

Each day brought anxiety. You focus on one day at a time, and although it was scary and we felt so helpless at times, we made a point to stay positive and find a reason to smile – even for a moment each day. Ollie needed love and warmth surrounding him.

During Ollie’s NICU journey, he had a serious gut infection (NEC), received a blood transfusion, was on breathing support (CPAP) for 39 days, and stayed in an incubator for 52 days before the milestone of moving to a bassinet – and lastly, coming off his monitor on day 73. It was a surreal feeling to hold your baby with no cords, monitors beeping or breathing support tubes, a special moment that will be with me for a long time. 

After 97 days in NICU, Ollie left weighing a healthy 3.6 kg, over three times his birth weight! With parents forever grateful for the support given by the NICU superstar nurses and doctors, our family and friends, the incredible charities like The Little Miracles Trust, and even the kindness of strangers. It’s a time where you need to lean into all the help offered, it helped us so much on our journey.

Ollie is now five months corrected and thriving! He is a smiley, relaxed, and happy wee guy, growing strong just as he should be. We are loving being a family of three, and although the start of his journey was scary, we’ve come out the other side and will never forget all those who made that possible.