I've often wondered how best to approach discussing premature birth with Joseph. I know older children and adults who were premature who weren't told until they we were older, and were shocked and upset. I wanted Joseph to know his start, so that by the time he gets to school, should he need to take photographs in, or it comes up, that he's confident explaining why his start was a little bit different to the majority of his school friends.
I haven't been able to find any books about prematurity written for children so, have just made it up as I've gone along. I am not really a photographer. We have no pictures up in our house, and whilst I take the odd holiday snap, I've never really documeted my life with pictures. When Joseph was born I felt a compulsion to take pictures often. I never went in to the unit without my camera. I felt this need to chart his journey and I am so pleased I did.
I decided to start with this picture:
I thought this was a good start, as he can see that we are with him, and it gives him a point of reference. He is only a few days old here, and looks small, but not poorly. He doesn't have breathing equipment on, although you can see what he calls his "spider legs", the little leads for his monitor.
I have showed Joseph this picture of him, as I think its quite cute, although there is a lot of equipment. He understands already about CPAP that helped him breathe. In his arm is the long line, but I haven't explained that. He also knows about the pads on his chest, as they told the doctors when he needed a little bit of extra help.
I love this photo and have used this one to explain about him being fed through his nose, until he was ready to use a bottle. When I was telling him about my friend's new baby born this week at 25 weeks he said to me "will she have a tube like I did mummy, will she have a special box to sleep in?"
I'm so proud that Joseph understands the basics of his start, and we can add more detail as he gets older. It helps me to feel less anxious about it as well. A friend of mine explained to me that her daughter needed to take photos into school in her first year, and she have her a choice so she could choose how much information she felt comfortable sharing.
If you have had a premature baby, or a preemie in the family, how have you gone about explaining it?
I haven't been able to find any books about prematurity written for children so, have just made it up as I've gone along. I am not really a photographer. We have no pictures up in our house, and whilst I take the odd holiday snap, I've never really documeted my life with pictures. When Joseph was born I felt a compulsion to take pictures often. I never went in to the unit without my camera. I felt this need to chart his journey and I am so pleased I did.
I decided to start with this picture:
I thought this was a good start, as he can see that we are with him, and it gives him a point of reference. He is only a few days old here, and looks small, but not poorly. He doesn't have breathing equipment on, although you can see what he calls his "spider legs", the little leads for his monitor.
I have showed Joseph this picture of him, as I think its quite cute, although there is a lot of equipment. He understands already about CPAP that helped him breathe. In his arm is the long line, but I haven't explained that. He also knows about the pads on his chest, as they told the doctors when he needed a little bit of extra help.
I love this photo and have used this one to explain about him being fed through his nose, until he was ready to use a bottle. When I was telling him about my friend's new baby born this week at 25 weeks he said to me "will she have a tube like I did mummy, will she have a special box to sleep in?"
I'm so proud that Joseph understands the basics of his start, and we can add more detail as he gets older. It helps me to feel less anxious about it as well. A friend of mine explained to me that her daughter needed to take photos into school in her first year, and she have her a choice so she could choose how much information she felt comfortable sharing.
If you have had a premature baby, or a preemie in the family, how have you gone about explaining it?