I'm taking on 100km in May for Bliss, the UK's leading charity helping babies born premature or full-term, but sick. 1 in every 7 babies born in the UK will need specialist neonatal care, which means thousands of babies and their families seek information and support from Bliss every year.

When I was pregnant with my second baby, my son Arthur had stopped growing at 28 weeks and I was diagnosed with preeclampsia for the second time (I had preeclampsia with my daughter 2 years prior as well) at 28 weeks I was given a dose of Steroids to strengthen Arthur’s lungs incase he had to come out asap and I was admitted to hospital for 5 days to monitor Arthur and to get my blood pressure under control with medication, it was Christmas and I was missing my nearly 2 year old daughter Bonnie. Once I was discharged I was in and out of hospital more times than I can count! Some days I was there for 10 hours. Two days after my daughter’s second birthday I had an appointment at the hospital for monitoring, I had a scan to check the blood flow to bub. When they told me the results of the scan they said that blood flow in babies brain had slowed down so he had to come out that day! I was so scared as I had no idea what to expect when he came out! Once we knew he had been born the wait to hear if he would breathe on his own was the longest time in my life! I was laying on the operating table and my husband said “he’s crying babe, can you hear him?” This was the biggest relief! I didn’t get to see Arthur until the following morning. My husband had shown me pictures of my son but seeing him in person for myself was very overwhelming! He weighed only 1084grams (2lbs 6oz) and was so so tiny!! Over the next 6 weeks he dealt with an infection he got on his head and had lost of testing done including a lumbar puncture to make sure the infection hadn’t spread. Having to leave your baby behind everyday and feeling torn between my eldest child and my new baby was the most difficult time of my life! The 6 weeks Arthur was in the NICU and HDU felt like a lifetime! But we wouldn’t have gotten through that journey if it wasn’t for the hospital staff and organisations like Bliss!

By sponsoring me, your donation will help Bliss continue their work to ensure that every baby born premature or full-term who needs neonatal care will have the best chance of survival and quality of life.