Joanne, Caroline, Karen, Emma U, Annabel, Emma S decided that they were feeling a little unfit, so felt that taking part in the Thames Path Challenge (50 kilometer walk) in aid of something very close to their hearts - the Neonatal Unit at Ashford and St Peters Hospital - would make them feel so much better in many ways.  We are walking the 50k with another team, Carrie, Sarah and Nell. 

Our beautiful babies, Roman, Ronnie, Florence, Claudia, Grace and Evelyn were all cared for in this amazing unit and we will forever be in their debt.  We have included a little story about each of our miracles:

Roman 

Roman was born at 29 weeks on 25th November 2011 weighing 2lb 12oz.  

Joanne had gone for a check up at the hospital, and during the check-up the consultant announced "you're two centimetres dilated so were going to deliver the baby, by c-section, this afternoon!"  So there it was, all systems go!  

Roman spent the next 10 days in Intensive care, then was moved to the high dependency room where he was eventually taken out of his incubator and put into a cot. On boxing day he went into the special care room in preparation for going home. Unfortunately on new years day his health quickly deteriorated, he had picked up an infection and was no longer breathing properly, so ended up back in intensive care in an incubator. It was at that point that Joanne really worried if Roman was strong enough to make it.

Dr Uman has a holistic approach to medicine & thought that rather than intubating him to take over Roman's breathing he thought Roman should rest on Joanne's chest as 1) She would know if he stopped breathing and 2) Roman would find comfort being there. So there they sat all night until morning, Roman tucked into her hospital gown with his tiny feet resting in her belly button. 

Three days later having been pumped with industrial strength antibiotics, Roman was well enough to start moving through the rooms again and eventually we went home on January 17th having spent seven weeks on the unit. Apart from reflux (which can be common amongst premature babies), he has no other health issues.

Ronnie 

Ronnie was born at 27 weeks on 4th December 2011 weighing 2lb 8oz (1.170kg), after going to hospital for a check up relating to a stomach cramp Caroline was told that labour was imminent, but in order for Ronnie to stand a chance he needed at least one of the two required steroid shots to help strengthen his lungs – luckily they managed both shots.

Labour came very quickly, starting at 8.15pm and by 8.34pm Ronnie had arrived. He was transferred to NICU by 8.55pm where he was incubated in the intensive care room, on oxygen.   Ronnie’s lungs were ‘messy’ and hadn’t matured enough, which resulted in him being diagnosed with chronic lung disease, a condition that will improve as he grows stronger.

Ronnie was in the NICU for 11 and half weeks, but the first few weeks were a blur of machines, wires, and numbers, relating to oxygen levels, heart rates and pulse.  The staff in the NICU help you understand the machines, but it is still very scary. Ronnie moved from the intensive care room to the high dependency room, where he unfortunately caught an infection relating to his white blood cells, and was treated with strong antibiotics, which luckily he responded too, but it still meant a blood transfusion. 

Eventually Ronnie was allowed home on 7th February 2012, 4 weeks before he was originally meant to arrive, however, due to his lung condition, he came home on oxygen.

Florence

Florence was born nearly 9 weeks early on 18th December 2011, weighing in at 3lb 9oz (1.6kg).  Karen's waters had broken days before and as part of the hospital checks they found that there was an infection present so felt it better to deliver the baby early.  

Florence arrived at speed early on the Sunday morning and within minutes was wrapped up and moved to an incubator in the intensive care room in NICU.  When Karen got to see her she was told that Florence was presenting as a baby who had meningitis, which is not what any parent wants to hear.

Over the next 2 weeks Florence was pumped with hard-core antibiotics, had a couple of lumber punctures and even got herself a sun-tan under the lamp for jaundice! But after 2 weeks she perked up and was well enough to move into a cot in the special care nursery where Karen was supported by the staff to work towards taking Florence home.

Finally on Monday, 16th January 2012 Florence was allowed home, 4 weeks before she was actually due!  Without the quick actions of the maternity unit and the care and support of the NICU who knows what could have happened, and without the support of fundraising other babies might not be as lucky as Florence was.

 

Claudia

Claudia was born on 27th December 2011, 13 weeks early. She weighed 1lb 14oz (840 grams) and was delivered by emergency c-section with Emma under general anaesthetic.

Claudia was transferred to NICU within ten minutes of her life. Due to the nature of the delivery Emma did not see her baby for the first time until the following day. She had been admitted nine days before Claudia's delivery with HELLP syndrome and severe pre eclampsia. On admission the staff realised the severity of her condition and acted quickly in administering the steroid injections to develop the babies lungs.

Claudia spent nine long weeks on NICU where she received the most amazing care. Each day would be a rollercoaster with different things from jaundice to blood transfusions, dropping heart rates and monitors constantly alarming, its the most frightening environment and each day becomes a blur.

Claudia progressed through the different rooms on NICU and Emma spent the six nights prior to discharge rooming in with Claudia and was finally able to take her beautiful tiny miracle home weighing 4 lbs. 1oz on the 29th February 2012.

Grace

Grace was born on 31st December 2011 nearly 11 weeks early and weighed 3lbs exactly.   

The Thursday after Christmas, in the middle of the night, Annabel's waters broke and from then on started the most frightening journey of her life.  Annabel was rushed into hospital and even though in labour, with the help of medical intervention, Grace miraculously stayed inside for a valuable 48 hours, enough time to have the steroid injections needed to help develop her lungs. 

Grace was delivered by c-section and was rushed immediately onto NICU where she was settled into her new womb, her incubator and where she spent the next 8 weeks of her life battling infections and numerous episodes where she would simply stop breathing, the most frightening thing in the world to watch.  

Grace was a little fighter from day one and Annabels' tiny miracle finally came home on 22nd February 2012 and continues to go from strength to strength.  Quite simply without the amazing kindness and support of all the staff on the unit at St Peter's we might not be in such a fortunate position today, helping to make our precious gift a reality.
 

Evelyn

Evelyn arrived on 7th February 2012 by emergency c-section. She was 8 weeks early and weighed 3lb 15oz. She was rushed straight to the neonatal unit from the operating room and this is where she stayed for the following 6 weeks.

When Evelyn first arrived on NICU they were happy with her progress, however as quite often happens Evelyn took a turn for the worse. Due to her prematurity her lungs had not had a chance to fully form, because of this and all the pressures of crying she ended up with bilateral pneumothorax which meant she required 4 chest drains. Unfortunately an infection managed to transfer into her body along with one of the chest drains which meant she required intensive antibiotics and a collection of infections were surgically drained from her chest.

Evelyn spent several weeks on antibiotics to help fight levels of infection in her little body and after what felt like an eternity, Emma was finally able to bring her miracle baby home on 18th March 2012, which also happened to be Mothers Day. 

Evelyn came home on oxygen, however, Emma remains hopeful that she will be off this shortly! If it wasn't for the amazing work of all the staff on the unit, Emma would not have her miracle baby.  

As you can see all of our babies stories end well with them all coming home, which is largely due to the dedication and expertise of the doctors and nurses in the NICU.  

We will forever be in debt to them all. 

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