The story of Juveli's prematurity

Ever since I can remember I wanted to be a mother. It really burned me.
It took some time to find the intended groom, but when it happened we got married quickly and I immediately got pregnant.
I was so happy and loved every moment.
I was impatiently waiting for the moment when I would hear the pulse on the ultrasound and feel the movements of the fetus.
Everything was great and all the tests were normal.
Then, one night at 26 weeks, just after I finished my shift (I'm a nurse by profession) I had a strange episode. I thought it was part of the pregnancy, but I started to worry.
The next day there was bleeding and I immediately went to the doctor.
In the ultrasound they saw a significant shortening of the cervix. I was hospitalized and given a Celstone injection.
I started to get scared and read about premature births and all the consequences that come with it. The nurses and doctors in the ward kept saying that I got the 'lucky bed' in the ward, and all the patients who got that bed carried at least until week 34. I tried to be optimistic.
A day later my water started to drop and after two more days significant bleeding started and I was taken down to the delivery room for observation. Labor developed very quickly and my Jubilee was born, at 27+1 weeks and weighing 969 grams.
So small - I didn't even have to press.
The midwife gave him to the doctor and the labor nurse and I tried to see what they were doing. I heard that the doctor wanted to wean her immediately and the nurse said that she didn't need to because the storation was normal.
They took him to the nursery and my husband ran after them. The midwife left for a few minutes and I remember being left alone with all my thoughts and fears. I didn't know what was going on with Yuval.
After a while my husband came back and said he was fine and was being helped by CPAP.
After 10 days they breathed him in, and so two months passed with a tube in their nose and a tube in their mouth.
Since they were unable to wean him off the ventilator, he received steroids, and after a few days
(and a chubby life as a result of the steroids) Yuval was able to breathe on his own and was aided only by oxygen goggles.
After a month where he took a lot of breathing breaks and learned to eat from a bottle we were released home
weighing 2.760 kg.
3 months full of ups and downs in prematurity are over. I'm not sure if the fact that I'm a nurse and understand a little more helped me deal with it or made it more difficult. It was not an easy experience. I cried non-stop and pumped a lot of milk. To this day, when I see the scars left from all the stabbings and try to sleep at night, I remember those days and cry. It must have burned into me forever.
The first year was challenging - inguinal hernia surgery, treatment and follow-up due to reflux, physical therapy once a week and follow-up of the child's development
Today Yuval is 3 and a half years old, the eldest brother of the two-year-old Maayan who was born at week 40+3.
He is a healthy, smart, generous child, smiling, full of joie de vivre and winning hearts.
He is my miracle, my hero, and I thank him every day.