Sed ut perspiciatis unde omnis iste natus error sit voluptatem accusantium doloremque laudantium, totam rem aperiam, eaque ipsa quae ab illo inventore veritatis et quasi architecto beatae vitae dicta sunt explicabo. Nemo enim ipsam voluptatem quia voluptas sit aspernatur aut odit aut fugit, sed quia consequuntur magni dolores eos qui ratione voluptatem sequi nesciunt. Neque porro quisquam est, qui dolorem ipsum quia dolor sit amet, consectetur, adipisci velit, sed quia non numquam eius modi tempora incidunt ut labore et dolore magnam aliquam quaerat voluptatem.

Feeding difficulties are not uncommon for preemie infants but imagine being aged 5 having never eaten solid food. One little Aussie premmie, named Emma Coles is one such girl, she has a serious food phobia, so she has not been able to feed "normal" food. Emma was born at 27 weeks gestation, which is 3 months premature, and only weighed 510 grams. She lives exclusively on muscle milk, which is an expensive nutrient rich formula.

Emma's parents have tried lots of different ways to encourage her to eat solid food but nothing has been successful so far. In a bid to overcome this obstacle, Emma and her family are going to the United States to a specialist clinic. It is a 6 week program that has had a great deal of success. There is nothing similiar to it in Australia.

Feeding Preemie Infants: Background information

Preemie infants are born before their intestinal tract is fully matured. Because of this preemie infants will often be fed through an intravenous device that directly enters the blood stream rather than the digestive system. As the preemie infants system develops they will progress to what is called gavage feeding, which is when babies receive their breast milk or formula via a tube that enters the nose or mouth and into their stomach. When preemie infants reach about 32 to 34 weeks gestation they are possibly sucking, swallowing, and breathing all at the same time and this is when they may graduate to the breast or bottle feeding.

Thank you to all that entered the preemiehelp.com world preemie day 'short story' competition. We have been overwhelmed by the response and found it hard to keep up as so many had so much to share.

This article contains stories from 4 of our finalists. We felt that so many of the stories touched us in different ways that we had to share a few from select finalists. The stories that cover different aspects of a parents NICU and preemie experience.
We hope you enjoy them and take something away with you from each story.

Also remember, if you have a story to tell please email at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it it to us and if it is a good quality piece we will post it in our parents stories. 

 `

World Preemie Day Short Story Finalist No.1 

Written by:India Harris

My son was born at 31 weeks @ 3lbs. 14 oz. on November 3, 2011. I had been to the emergency room with labor pains, dizziness, and nausea 11/1and 11/2. I was placed in triage and given an IV with fluids, then sent home both days. The third day I went I was in so much pain they attempted to do the same, but I insisted that I was in actual labor. They eventually checked me, but it was too late to give me any medication for pain because I had fully dialated. I had him a hour after my arrival. He was taken to the NICU shortly after his birth. I was able to go and see him the next day, the nurses in the NICU were so nice and loving. They took care of him as if the had given birth to him. He is still there as he is only 1 week old as of yesterday. The nurses call me regularly and update me. I have two other children ages 7 and 1 years old. There ages keep them from being able to see him, and this makes it difficult for me to see him as much as I'd like. The nurses make me feel at ease, because he is in good hands. He was taken off oxygen and an IV 3 days ago. He lost weight the first couple of days and he has gained 5 ounces since. The nurses tell me he is doing well and should be home soon. He was also taken out of the incubator and now sleeps in a regular crib. Overall my NICU experience has been great considering all the circumstances.

A Person’s A Person No Matter How Small …Dr Seuss

“Homebirth, breast-milk, cloth nappies and zero intervention”.  These words once defined my expectations of motherhood… the pride before the fall.

On July 4th 2002 my precious son was born by emergency caesarian section, 14 weeks early and weighing just 816g.  And while he struggled for every ventilator-assisted breath in a hard and sterile incubator, I took my first small steps to climb my own Mount Everest. Unlike Thomas, mine was not a physical struggle, but a struggle of the heart, mind and soul.  A struggle to blend the mountain of medical information I was receiving with wisdom and compassion, neither of which I possessed in any great quantity.  I was desperate to rediscover faith and hope.  Hope that he would survive, hope that he would survive and thrive, and hope that in some small way I could contribute to his wellbeing by just being me.  His Mother.

For two full days I stared at my son through the perspex of his incubator and struggled to bring hope to this seemingly hopeless situation.  Hope would show me the undying tenacity of spirit present in all of us that just WILL NOT GIVE UP.  And with each passing day what became so apparent to me was that this tiny little scrap of skin and bones labouring like a miniature warrior-of-sorts was clearly just not giving up.   Next I noticed the beautiful picture of another precious angel in Thomas’ situation on the wall, with the caption, “A Person’s a Person No Matter How Small”.  Slowly I began to trust in the process and absolutely delight in the giant strides that we were both making.