Waking up at midnight with a stomach ache, Su Barker pushed the thought out of her mind and tried to go back to sleep.

Fifteen minutes later the same stomach ache woke her again.

And again, and again.

With the pain returning in regular 15 minute intervals, by 4.30am Su had no choice but to acknowledge that her baby was on its way.

But rather than be excited, Su was dreading the birth for her baby was extremely premature.

Born at 26 weeks and six days, Stanley Elvin weighed just 2lbs 1 oz.

“His head was the size of my fist, he was that tiny,” says Su, 33.

Stanley was born with three holes in his heart and a slight bleed on the brain, all normal considering he was born three months early, but frightening for new parents Su and her partner Alan Elvin who had had a normal pregnancy up until a week earlier when, in April this year, Su woke in the night and felt her waters break.

“I went to hospital but was told that my waters hadn’t broken but I was given a steroid injection just in case it had to help the baby’s lungs develop and antibiotics in case of infection,” says Su.

When it was certain Su’s waters had broken, she was taken to Addenbrookes Hospital in Cambridge, a Level 3 hospital with the resources and equipment to deal with babies born before 28 weeks.

“I was petrified,” remembers Su.

“The plan was to give me plenty of bed rest and monitor me and I was in there for five days when on the Friday night, I woke up with the stomach ache. I didn’t want it to be happening, I didn’t want it to be true because it felt as though my body was rejecting my baby. I felt as though I couldn’t protect him anymore.”

When doctors moved Su into the labour ward her contractions went from every 15 minutes to every three minutes until 1.30pm.

By that time Stanley had developed an infection but doctors told Su that delivering Stanley by caesarian section would be too traumatic for him, so they supported her in delivering her baby naturally.

But when Stanley came it was a bit of a surprise, laughs Su.

“I’d had an epidural and labour was progressing fine. The nurse was just waiting for my contraction to subside so she could fit a catheter but when she lifted my sheet Stanley’s head was already out. All of a sudden a crazy number of people ran into the room. There were about 15 dooctors, nurses, specialists from the neo natal unit in the room with me.

“When Stanley was born I didn’t get to hold him, they left him attached to the umbilical chord for 30 seconds to see if he would cry, and thankfully he did, which was a good sign. But then they put him in a plastic bag to stop his skin drying out and to simulate the feeling of being in the womb. He breathed on his own for 12 minutes then showed signs of distress, so they put him on a ventilator.”

Alan was by Su’s side the whole time and saw Stanley before they took him to the neo natal war. The next time the couple saw their newborn son was when he was in an incubator with tubes coming out of him and a ventilator to help him breathe.

The sight came as a shock to the new parents.

“Stanley was fine growing inside me when I was pregnant.

There was no indication anything was amiss. I was planning events I was going to in the lead up to my due date, weddings, hen nights, My own baby shower was to be held on the Sunday after Stanley was actually born.

“I started to mourn my pregnancy, that I wouldn’t see myself pregnant at nine months, wouldn’t know what it felt like.

“The hardest thing to deal with was I felt I had failed. I know it’s not that now but when you’ve just had a baby in those circumstances that’s all that goes through your mind,” says Su.

Su had access to the neo natal ward 24 hours a day and she praises the hospital staff’s support with establishing breastfeeding, something she says has been invaluable in helping Stanley develop quickly and well, and developing a bond between mother and son.

She also praises the charity, Chester House, which gives parents of premature babies at the hospital, a place to stay.

Su explains: “A baby born at 27 weeks has a 90 per cent chance of survival. After Stanley was born his chances went up to 98 per cent because he did so well and every now and then was breathing on his own. He did have numerous moments where he would stop breathing, and the journey from Addenbrookes to Broomfield when he was three weeks old was awful because he did that eight times. He would go blue and floppy. Stanley’s oxygen levels would go down dangerously low to about 33 per cent because he’d forget to breathe.

“But over time two holes in his heart closed and the fluid on his brain was absorbed. He doesn’t have a heart murmur any more and all he needed to do was grow.”

Stanley now weighs in at 7lbs 14 oz and his oxygen levels are steady. He is now back at home with his parents.

Su, who recently moved with the family from Braintree to Colchester, says: “Stanley was due to come home at 36 weeks gestation but he reacted badly to some jabs and had to go back into incubation.

“That’s when I finally broke down. We were so close to bringing him home it felt like we had gone back ten steps. He had a feeding tube put in, a canular and had a lumbar puncture.

“Eventually Stanley came home on June 19, which was still before his due date of July 13, and since then he has gone from strength to strength.”

Su admits leaving Stanley in hospital while she came home was a struggle, and at times heartbreaking, but instead of seeing the first three months of Stanley’s life as lost time without him at home, Su sees it as time getting to know her baby.

She explains: “I got to see him grow, develop, got to know him before he came home so I knew exactly what he liked and didn’t like. I got to look after myself and rest.

These are things most new parents don’t get. They bring a newborn home and then have to get to know their baby.

“The strange thing is that in two months’ time I will start weaning Stanley onto solids.

“Most babies his age are twice his size, but I have to remind myself that although he’s only the size of a newborn baby, he’s actually five months old!”

Echo: Supportive family – Mark and Kelly Fisk with children Ben, five, and Sadie, three

We want Sadie to have the same opportunities as all the other babies

THREE years ago Kelly Fisk was dramatically flown from a family holiday in Spain back to Southend Airport via private medical jet when she went into labour at 27 weeks.

But now Sadie, who was born weighing just 2lb 10oz, is a determined and bright three year old about to start preschool.

However just after Sadie’s first birthday the tot was diagnosed with cerebral palsy.

The news was devastating to Kelly and husband Mark.

Kelly says: “We were getting used to being a family of four when Sadie came home from hospital after three months.

“But she started missing milestones which we put down to her prematurity. She wasn’t sitting or pulling herself up like other babies her age, and her legs were very stiff, with her arms up by her face and hands fisted by her ears.”

Sadie was already seeing physiotherapists and was referred to Great Ormond Street Hospital where she was diagnosed with the neurological disorder.

“It’s normally caused by trauma just before or after childbirth. It was quite a shock. It turns out Sadie is physically affected, not mentally – she bosses us around, she’s three going on 30! She very bright and loves learning. She is so happy and determined and brings us so much joy.”

Sadie is undergoing constant treatment and Kelly and Mark, both 33, hope she will undergo an operation next year that could help Sadie walk with an aid.

The operation, Selective Dorsal Rhizotomy (SDR), is used in America and carried out privately in London, Nottingham and Leeds.

As a result Kelly and Mark must raise £60,000 to fund the £35,000 operation and cash for up to 12 months of privately funded physiotherapy afterwards.

But it will be worth it, says Kelly.

“It is not a cure for cerebral palsy, but it’s the closest thing we can get to a miracle,” says Kelly, who works two days a week as a PA in London.

“It will always be obvious Sadie has cerebral palsy but it means she could walk.

“Sadie is such a determined young girl and doesn’t let anything stop her now, and we want her to have all the same opportunities and experiences others have and will have in the future.”

The couple, who also have son Ben, five, have been raising funds for Stand Up for Sadie and have already raised £25,000 through events such as triathlons and a charity ball last year, which alone raised £13,000.

This year’s charity ball in aid of Stand Up For Sadie will be held on September 19 at Pontlands Park Hotel in Chelmsford from 6.30pm.

There is one table of 10 left, costing £600. Carriages at 12.30am. For tickets, call 07866 185314.