Shortly after returning from a trip to Bermuda, an expectant mom ended up in the hospital and was told she might be having her baby. To her, the assertion almost felt impossible. After all, she was only 23 weeks pregnant. Ten days later, the mother, Julia Thompson, ended up giving birth to her daughter Eloise, who was born weighing just 14 ounces.
Julia and her husband, John Thompson, recently spoke to People about the challenging pregnancy and birth experience. Before welcoming Eloise, they had been trying to get pregnant for about three years and had tried in vitro fertilization, or IVF. They experienced a few losses prior to welcoming Eloise, and at eight weeks, when Julia had a hemorrhage, they worried they had lost another baby.
They continued to have concerns.
Later on in the pregnancy, at about 18 weeks, doctors told Julia and John about a new concern: Eloise’s size. “Just as soon as they said she’s measuring small…we knew the exact date of conception because she was an IVF baby, so it wasn’t like they could say, ‘Oh, maybe we just got the due date wrong,'” Julia told People.
Fast forward to their Bermuda trip. At that point, everything actually seemed fine. When they returned home, they had another appointment, and no new concerns were identified. All was good — until a few days later, when Julia went a whole day without urinating. She later learned that her blood pressure was extremely high.
She went to the hospital, where a doctor told her she might welcome her baby soon.
“Pretty much within half an hour of being in triage, the OB came in and she was like, ‘You might be having your baby now,'” Julia told the magazine. “And I almost laughed because I was like, ‘I’m 23 weeks pregnant. That’s funny. I have a lot more time to go.'”
Julia was transferred to Massachusetts General Hospital and started on a magnesium drip, where she and her baby were closely monitored. Ten days later, doctors decided it was no longer safe for Julia to remain pregnant. In spite of the concerns and risks, including severe early preeclampsia, Eloise was born at 25 weeks.
Julia believes those extra 10 days of waiting made all the difference.
“We were so close and she was so small that they truly felt that every day mattered to try and get a little bit further along,” she explained. “I really believe that those 10 days are the reason why we have a healthy, beautiful baby here now.”
After she was born, Eloise spent about five months in the hospital, including 106 days in the NICU and a month and a half in the special care unit. Now, she’s 9 months old and weighs over 13 pounds. Julia described Eloise as “a little trooper” who “just surpassed all of these odds.”
She also credited the hospital. “MGH, they’re the reason why we are a family,” she told People. “They gave us 10 extra days of pregnancy and our daughter and I’m forever indebted to [them], there are too many of them to name. But every single person there really helped, and they feel like family.”
She added that the nurses “were such a good community.” A camera called the AngelEye allowed Julia and John to see their daughter in the NICU at any time. “John and I could pull it up and see. She’s just lying there snoozing. But sometimes the nurse would leave a little note next to her saying, ‘I was such a good girl last night,’ or something like that,” she recalled.
