Mia is 5 years old and has challenged herself to raise money to help babies in Neonatal care.

Her little sister Darcie was born at 37 weeks with a rare, life threatening condition called hydrops fetalis which basically means she had a build up of fluid in her tiny body, surrounding her organs and causing her so much pain. We nearly lost her at birth but thanks to the medical team and her fighting strength she made it through the first 24 hours and was transferred to a level 3 NICU hospital which could deal with her complex needs. The two weeks that followed were a roller-coaster of emotions but after a blood transfusion, chest drains, blood gasses, tears, sleepless nights, endless pumping, and lots of support, she was transferred back to our local hospital's special care unit where she stayed for a week before finally coming home on August 10th. This may seem like a small amount of time; and compared to some babies it is - but it felt like a lifetime.

We were the lucky ones, we got our baby home.

To mark a year since her journey in neonatal, her big sister will be taking part in challenges between 21st July - 10th August.

Mia will start her challenges with a fun run (me and her Aunty will also be running with Darcie in her pram!) on Sunday 23rd and end with a bike ride on August 9th.

Mia's ideas to raise her money:

*baking cakes to sell
* running half a mile in fancy dress
*selling old toys and books
*sponsored silence (She is a chatter box so this will be difficult!)
*pizza challenge (she will make a pizza along with a few family members which will then be scored the lowest ranked pizza's get a cream pizza in the face!)
*Car washing

All the money raised will be donated to the neonatal unit to help other families.

It's going to be a fun couple of weeks!

If anyone has any idea's for more challenges or want to challenge themselves to help, please let us know!

Thanks for reading!

Meghan,

Proud Mum of Mia and Darcie.