#30DaysofHope - Alannah

Levi Dennis Vanzo entered the world 8 weeks early after my waters broke at 30 weeks and was taken to the Women's and Children's Adelaide with a severe kidney infection.

I was on a drip with antibiotics and allergic to penicillin. I had ultrasound of the kidney. I was on ondastron on drip because of vomiting and very unwell. I became 6cm dilated at 31+6. They had to check for a shortened cervix. If I get pregnant again, to check for a cause, I would get a 20 week scan for a contributing factor for premature birth.

I had an internal ultrasound and got rushed to emergency cesarean as he was breach. He was born and had oxygen mask briefly when he was first born then took off of it. He was put on my chest- one of happiest moments of my life - then taken to NICU.

I'm a single mother, close with my mother, and this was at 2:56am. She doesn't drive in Adelaide. We come from the country an hour away and my dad passed away 9 years ago and she's a widow so she couldn't be there. So it was a little scary by myself but then they took me to recovery and took the colostrum from my breasts to give to him through gavage.

They then wheeled me to him quickly which was lovely. It was a frightening sight but I adored him. He was in his enclosed crib with monitors, tubes, etc and stayed there. He was moved to SCBU and came home weeks later when he gained weight and learned how to suck etc. No major pushbacks-luckily.