Little fighter Grayson born at just 25 weeks

Mum Amy Bunn and dad Daniel Bagshaw, from Louth, are no strangers to having their babies in a neonatal intensive care unit (NICU), as two of their other children - Hunter, aged four and Luna-Grace, three, - were also born prematurely at 33 weeks and 31 weeks respectively. Eldest daughter Scarlett, aged five, was born just at full-term at 37 weeks.

But little Grayson was born on September 7, last year more than three months before his due date of December 18, and has spent 128 days of his life in hospital in four different hospitals.

Amy, 25, had suffered from bleeding throughout her pregnancy with Grayson, which doctors could find no reason for and Grayson seemed to be healthy. But after she was admitted to Boston Pilgrim Hospital with bleeding four times in one week, she was transferred by ambulance to Hull Royal Infirmary when she was 24 weeks and three days pregnant.

Tiny Grayson was born by C-section a few days later, weighing just 2lbs 1/2oz and was placed on a ventilator.

He was then placed on a CPAP machine in December to allow his lungs to grow stronger and breathe by himself, but he stopped breathing several times as his brain kept forgetting to tell his lungs to breathe for him.

Amy said: “You always hear that eventually, NICU babies turn a corner and they improve massively, but when you’re in there so long, you feel as though that day will never come - but it did, eventually.”

As Grayson grew stronger, he was transferred to Lincoln County Hospital on high-flow oxygen, but then he was found to have a gut infection, so he was taken to Queens Medical Centre in Nottingham where he had to stay over Christmas.

He was discharged and placed back on a ventilator, but unfortunately his windpipe suffered some damage when the tube was placed so he had to undergo surgery to have it placed properly. He finally came home on half a litre of oxygen on January 13, weighing 9lbs 4oz. He has had to go to hospital with bronchiolitis twice since then, but Amy said he’s a little warrior: “The doctors said we’ve been very lucky,” Amy said. “Considering how early he was born, he is not expected to suffer any long-term health issues as all his brain scans have come back clear.”

The family has since been hit with Covid-19, including tiny Grayson, but he suffered no symptoms thankfully. Now nearly seven months old, Amy said that Grayson is proving to be a cheeky baby and can even act like a stroppy teenager some days and just wants to be given some peace.

“The other children all love him,” she said, “They’re all so anxious when we take him to an appointment and keep making sure we’re coming back.”