Stories
Being in NICU can be very hard. It can be helpful for families on the unit to hear about the stories of other families - it can bring hope, perspective and help them to feel less alone. If your family spent time on the NICU and you would like to share your story, we'd love to hear from you - please reach out to us on info@burpscharity.org.
For supporters of the charity, these stories show you real examples of how you how much your donation, fundraising or volunteering means to families going through their NICU journey.
Ted's story
Born at 42 weeks
We were looking forward to the birth of our son so much. We had planned for what we thought was every eventuality, we had been to some awesome antenatal and hypnobirthing classes and felt confident and positive. Stoke Mandeville were monitoring us closely as Ted’s ‘due date’ was the 22nd May and we were into June and he hadn’t made an appearance yet. My blood pressure had drastically increased and so we decided...
Spencer's story
Born at 35 weeks
After an uncomplicated pregnancy, it certainly was a shock to end up in the labour ward five weeks ahead of our due date. I hadn’t started maternity leave yet, and just that weekend my friends had thrown me a baby shower and we had gone to our first class of the NCT course. Thankfully, I had already packed a hospital bag, had birthing preferences for pretty much every eventuality and had been practicing...
Abigail and Isla's story
Born at 28 weeks
On the 29th September 2016 myself and my husband Neil went to our 12 week scan
which is when we discovered we were expecting twins! We already had Leo 7 and Mia 6
so we were doubling our brood, which was quite a shock. Other then the usual morning
sickness and a small bleed at 14 weeks my pregnancy had been pretty straight forward...
Sophie's story
Born at 28 weeks
Around the time of International Nurses Day, I always find myself reflecting on the NHS and the amazing care our doctors, nurses and other key workers provide for us. Nurses can often be a patient’s greatest advocate, caregiver and friend during scary times – and I experienced this first-hand during one of the most challenging times...
Ellie's story
Born at 27 weeks
After 5 years of miscarriages, a termination for anencephaly, and endless tests and procedures in different hospitals, I finally had a successful 12 week scan in February 2014 after visiting a private miscarriage specialist in Harley Street who diagnosed high natural killer cells and prescribed a concoction of different drugs. I was absolutely but also extremely anxious about something...
Nathan's story
Born at 35 weeks
I’m sure most people have watched one born every minute, I’ve tuned in for a few minutes here and there and it was enough for me, let’s be honest it scared the bejesus out of me! In my head I had the perfect birth planned; we were doing Hypnobirthing classes, I was reading the positive birth book, it was going to be as natural as possible, calm...
Luca's story
Born at 31 weeks
I was 31 weeks pregnant and busy at work when I went into unexpected labour. I had experienced what I thought were braxon hicks the night before (while watching the ‘Great British Bake Off’ final!), went to bed and had a really good night’s sleep but woke up feeling pretty tired the next morning. After wearily getting to work my busy day started...
Ollie's story
Born at 40 weeks
The 17th June had finally come – our little boy’s due date! The day went by largely uneventful – a trip to Tesco seemed to get my tummy fluttering a little but it did not seem to avail to anything more.
Later that evening we were laying on the sofa, watching the Graham Norton show, in our brand spanking new house, when I heard a pop from...
Libby's story
Born at 35 weeks
We were so happy when we found out I was pregnant for the first time, a little half brother or sister for Sam, my step son. We went to the scan as a family of three plus bump! Afterwards I had the blood test they do at your 12 week scan and then off we went to celebrate and tell our close friends and relatives. About 10 days later I received a call from...