The heartbreaking letter that every mum of a preemie will relate to…

Throughout pregnancy, it is a mum's only real wish to have a healthy baby, but in some cases that wish isn't always granted.

For Tabitha Jacobsen, her journey began during the first ultrasound when doctors saw that her placenta had an irregular shape.

After becoming extremely tired and noticing her body swell, Tabitha was diagnosed with pre-eclampsia and admitted to the hospital. Her son Braden was born three days later and he weighed just 1lb, 2.3 ounces.

Tabitha carried him for just over 27 weeks, so she spent much of his early days in a state of frantic worry.

To shed light on how tough it is to have a premature baby, Tabitha shared her story with San Francisco news anchor, Frank Somerville, who posted her words to Facebook – along with a poignant image of baby Braden’s tiny footprint.

In her letter, she says that her little boy spent 70 days in Intensive Care, and during this whole time, she never gave up hope that he’d gain strength.

By the time he finally was ready to go home, she gained tremendous respect for the “amazing nurses and doctors” who helped her little boy.

But one thing that really struck her was that families don’t discuss the difficulties of having a premature baby – the worry, the fear that the child won’t pull through, that they’ll need an operation, that they mightn’t make it home.

“I feel like this is something that most families don’t really discuss,” she said. “It’s a silent suffer that parents go through. It’s good to know that other people are going through similar situations and that you aren’t alone.”

Fair play to Tabitha for helping to make parents of preemies…

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