Indulge me.

Tomorrow my son will be 14 years old. I seriously have no idea where the time has gone and how he got so grown up! When you read this you'll know how amazing that fact is.

I was 22 years old when I got pregnant, totally planned, the EH and I were keen to start a family quickly and we were lucky that we only had to hold hands and I fell pregnant.

I was just at the end of the 5th month, 26 weeks into the pregnancy when my waters broke. Not broke like a huge flood - just dribbling in such a way that I thought the rumoured pregnancy-incontinence had started - yikes!

I carried on oblivious for about 2 days until the pain started on the Sunday night. Not having been pregnant before I was worried but not overly, I really didn't think I was in labour after only 26 weeks! After a few hours the EH decided enough was enough and called my midwife who immediately came to the house. When I apologised for calling her out at 5am she told me off for being a silly buggar! She called an ambulance and off we went to the local hospital.

After a few hours of trying to stop the labour it was decided that he was likely to be born fairly soon and the hospital wasn't equipped for such a premmie baby. I would have to be moved to a place about an hour away. Off we went again, me high as a kite on all sorts of drugs, blue lights and sirens going and the EH following behind.

We arrived at the other hospital at about 2pm on the Monday afternoon and I was hooked up to a barrage of monitors and other bits of equipment. I remember vividly crying because I had planned such a natural childbirth and I kept telling the EH "It wasn't supposed to be like this!" I wasn't allowed to eat or drink in case the doctors decided on a c-section. My parents and Lil Sis arrived to see me and it was only the second time I had met my future BIL - I will never forget his face!

After hours and hours he was born naturally, at 12.50am on the 11th January 1994, weighing in at 905g, just under 2lbs. I saw him briefly before the doctors whisked him away as he obviously wasn't able to breath unassisted and needed immediate resuscitation. As if all of that wasn't enough, I then had to be rushed to surgery as the placenta wouldn't detach and I was in real danger of haemorrhage. I have to feel so sorry for the EH at this point; New born son is being rushed to the Special Care Baby Unit (SCBU) and wife being rushed into emergency surgery. I think he aged 20 years.

I didn’t see my son until the following morning when I was taken in a wheelchair down to the SCBU. It's a huge unit at this particular hospital and all I could see were rows of incubators full of tubes and wires and bleeping machines. I couldn't even see the babies! Eventually I was taken to see my baby boy. Oh wow, he was the tiniest thing I had ever seen. Dark dark red, almost purple, his eyes were still fused shut and he was covered in wires and intubated as he couldn't yet breath unaided. I was able to touch him through the windows and that was all I could do for the first 2 weeks of his life. I was able to hold him after 2 weeks, and then after a few more weeks I was able to do things for him, change his nappies and clothes and assist with feeding him through a tube in his throat.

His prognosis at that time? Well, originally he was given a 20% survival rate and then IF he survived we were told he may have problems developmentally, he may be shorter than average, weak, sickly, they just didn’t know at that stage.

He had to have a couple of operations during his 14 weeks in hospital which scared us to death, but eventually, on the day he was actually due to be born, 18th April, we brought him home.

Today he stands at just about 5'9" tall, well above average for his age. He is fit, healthy, in fact he never gets sick, and he is doing very well at school. He is blonde and blue eyed and the most loving, helpful boy you could ever meet. I am so very proud of him!

I make no apologies for my overindulgence even if it's made me a bit weepy, and I know Lil Sis won't make it to the end without crying!

Happy Birthday Lil Master P, I love you so much!