Thank you for taking a few moments to read my story............

On the 26th September 2018 I went into premature labour experiencing abdominal pains from 1am. After several phone calls to the labour ward, I arrived at hospital around 9am and by 9.30 had been assessed where I was told I was 9cm dilated, by 10.17am, I gave birth to my beautiful son Finley 10 weeks early. Weighing just 3lb 6oz, he fitted into the palms of my husbands hands.

Finley was taken straight to the Neonatal ward and placed into an incubator. When I first walked onto the unit nothing prepared us for what we were about to see, Finley was in an incubator and was full of tubes as I looked around there were other families all facing the same journey as us these little miracles wanted to enter the world early. They were all fighting there own internal battles.

When first born he was on air however after a few hours needed support with his breathing and had to go onto CPap. We had a tense wait as it was discussed in great depth whether to transfer Finley to the RVI however the decision was made to keep him at Durham. After a few days he was transferred onto High flow (oxygen) as his ability to maintain his own breathing slowly improved.

Finley then started to have bradycardias and apnoea’s (where he stops breathing) this was due to his lungs being so immature he needed stimulation to remember to breathe which is given in the form of caffeine.

Finley was attached to a heart monitor and a sats probe he was cared for by the amazing team which consisted of Consultants, Nurses and Nursing Assistants for just over 7 weeks.

Having a premature baby is something I never thought about, but when it happens to you, you live hour by hour and treasure every precious moment. You look at your baby in the incubator and as a mum you feel so helpless and want to do more but can't. You’re so thankful for every hour that passes and watch and pray your baby gets stronger every day.

The team at Durham were amazing, the support they gave myself and Phil the love they showed Finley but most of all the dedication and commitment they showed to each individual baby really makes you realise that without these professionals miracle babys would not have the best start in life. We will be forever grateful to you all.

After spending a long time on the unit Myself and husband really want to raise money to give a little something back to the ward we are organising a number of small events our main one being a 15 mile walk along Hadrians Wall.

We would like to ask all our families and friends if they could donate a small amount to help us achieve our goal.