Thanks for taking the time to visit my JustGiving page:

With the help of my Hubby, some truly amazing friends and my good old Mum, I am arranging charity ball on Friday 6th March 2015 at the Roslin Beach Hotel in Southend on Sea, Essex (http://www.roslinhotel.com).

Let me firstly take you on a whistle-stop tour of my family's journey, to bring you up to speed on why I am holding this charity ball.

Lexi's Journey
After suffering a miscarriage in 2012 my Husband (Dan) and I were delighted to find out I was pregnant again in January 2013. My pregnancy ran smoothly and we were counting down the days until we welcomed our baby into the world. We were getting really excited doing all of the first time parents essentials; decorating the nursery, collecting tiny clothes, building the cot.

I went 2 weeks over my due date and at 42 weeks I was induced. At first everything was going to plan, but I quickly went from first stage labour pains to established labour. Dan tried to raise the alarm on several occasions that I was in a lot of pain, but he was brushed aside by the midwifery staff who said that I couldn’t be in established labour so quickly after being induced. It turns out I was!

Thankfully there was a change in shifts and a new midwife came into the room to check on me. She was horrified at the sight of me and quickly examined me.

At this point our world as we knew it changed.

We heard the very worst thing that new parents could; she shouted out in a panicked tone that they were losing our precious baby’s heartbeat. She did a crash call and the room filled with numerous doctors and nurses. I had to deliver my baby extremely quickly. I was desperately waiting for that little cry you hear when your baby is born but it didn’t come! It was a heartbreaking agonising moment where the whole world came to a standstill. We were told we had a baby girl. Our new precious baby looked so big and yet was completely lifeless. In front of our eyes they started to pummel her chest so hard, huge hands beating down on her perfect looking tiny chest - and then they were gone, taking our baby with them.  

Dan and I had no idea what was going on for 5 hours agonising hours. Our parents rushed to the hospital and were supporting us through this horrific ordeal. After 5 hours we were then told that our little newborn had been starved of oxygen for 7 minutes and that there was a high chance she would have some form of brain damage. We were told she would be transferred urgently to Addenbrookes hospital in Cambridge who specalise in ‘brain cooling’, which aims to limit the damage she may suffer due to her birth. We were warned there was a chance she may not even make the journey and it was then we got to go and meet our baby for the first time and what we knew could also be the last time. Even through the numerous wires our bonny 8lb 14oz baby girl was just beautiful.

Upon arriving at Addenbrookes, we rushed to see our baby girl. Her treatment had been started immediately and she was in an induced coma, lying on a blanket that cooled her whole body to a hypothermic temperature. It went against every maternal instinct to leave her lying there freezing. I just wanted to wrap her in a warm blanket and hold her in my arms, close to my heart.

We were 100 miles away from home, with no local friends or family. I had suffered significant trauma myself due to the hurried nature of the birth. Our baby was extremely sick and we wanted to be with her every single second. The questions we hadn’t even thought of started running through our heads. Mainly, where are we going to stay?

The Sick Children’s Trust (www.sickchildrenstrust.org)
As if by reading our minds, a very friendly gentleman; Alan, popped up to see us and introduced himself to us as being from The Sick Children’s Trust. – A charity that have houses within hospitals to help keep families close to their seriously ill children during their treatment. He told us we had been assigned a room in Chestnut house taking a huge weight off our shoulders and allowing us to focus on our baby.

The staff who worked for The Sick Children’s Trust were absolutely amazing and the room was so close to the neo-natal unit where our little baby was being treated. We honestly do not know what we would have done without the help and support of The Sick Children’s Trust. We were there for two weeks and they supported us through the toughest time of our whole lives.

We have had a very bumpy ride but I am delighted to say that our baby, Lexi Beau, is a true fighter. After being told that she might be severely brain damaged IF she survived, she is doing fantastically well, reaching all her milestones with no obvious long term effects 13 months on.

Lexi has no idea what trauma she went through at birth, nor will she have any memory of her time at Addenbrookes Hospital. We, however, will have those memories ingrained in us until our dying day. We feel compelled to give something back to ‘The Sick Children’s Trust' as a way of thanking them for being so amazing and getting us through such an awful time.  

Back to the Ball                                                                                                 

So, here we now are arranging a charity ball, which is set to be a fantastic evening, including a welcome drink, 3 course meal, live entertainment, dj, charity auction, photographer, and lots of fun! We want to raise money for a fantastic cause but we also want people to have a great night!                                                                                               

The charity are truly amazing and do so much good, being a smaller unknown charity the money made from the ball will really benefit the work they do and what they are able to offer future families in need.