Thanks for taking the time to visit my JustGiving page.

I have decided to run the Spartan Super Race on 31st August 2014 in aid of First Touch, the charity that supports St George's NNU where Alfie was born & saved! It's a 13km+ obstacle race 'designed to challange even the elite racer' which I am not...I haven't even started training yet... I have decided to challange myself to raise money for the charity that supports the amazing work done by selfless nurses, doctors & surgeons at St George's NNU that helped to save my son Alfie. I am also running this race for Alfie, whose fighting spirit and determination is a real inspiration to me.

First Touch is the charity that supports the Neonatal Unit (NNU) at St George’s Hospital which cares for over 600 new-born babies each year (up to 39 at any one time) in the intensive, high dependency and special care nurseries at the hospital, which is based in Tooting, South West London. Babies come from all over to be cared for at the specialist unit.

Many of the babies cared for have simply been born prematurely. Some mothers have only just reached 24 weeks of pregnancy (40 weeks is generally considered normal). However, with the right care, these babies can grow up to be healthy, happy children.

The work that they do on the unit is utterly amazing and all done with so much care and selflessness. The support of the charity is vital as the cash strapped NHS cannot provide all the latest technology needed to keep these babies alive.

Our Story:

At 30 weeks of pregnancy, we had a scan which told us that there was something wrong with our baby, the sort of thing that no one wants to hear. We were sent from St Peter's hospital in Chertsey to St George's hospital in Tooting. We were told that without a blood transfusion in utero, our baby would die as they believed he had some sort of internal bleeding & was anaemic. On January 4th 2013, the blood transfusion took place along with the draining of 2.5 litres of amniotic fluid that had built up due to the baby being ill.

We were monitored weekly at St George's hospital until during a worried visit to the hospital on 28th January 2013, we were told that our baby would have to be delivered that day, 33 weeks of pregnancy.

We waited all day whilst being monitored when suddenly things took a frightening turn when the nurses could no longer find the baby's heartbeat or differentiate between mummy & baby. We were rushed straight into theatre and within minutes they had started & Alfie was pulled out. He was taken straight to the resuscitation table & not much was said, we could see he wasn't moving. It seemed like an eternity. Alfie was born at 20:52 with a heartbeat of 20bpm (normal should have been around 140bpm) and an agpar score of 1. He was intubated minutes after birth and whisked away to the Neonatal unit, we just got a quick glimpse.

I saw Alfie that night, but mummy had to wait until the next day to meet her baby properly. The doctors didn't know if Alfie would survive the first night, it was a very scary time & during his first week, things seemed very touch and go. At one week old, the doctors decided they had to operate, he was still weak but they couldn't wait any longer. It was an extremely anxious wait, but the nurses were so supportive.

Alfie did well through the operation and came out stronger. It turned out that he had a jejunal atresia that caused a bowel perforation and so was given a stoma (we had no idea what this was until this moment). The relief on the doctors faces said it all. We finally held Alfie for the first time nearly 2 weeks after his birth. Alfie got stronger and stronger following his operation and the constant round the clock care he received. Alfie spent time in intensive care, before moving to High dependency, back to intensive care after catching an infection, then back to high dependency, then to isolation following the revelation that he was colonising Klebsiella & where he remained until he was discharged on 6th April 2013. 

Alfie fought with all his might & we are so proud of our little superhero. He endured 3 longlines, TPN, hundreds of blood gases, countless cannulas, numerous NG tubes, several x-rays, scans, ultrasounds, bacterial sepcis, Staph aureus, ventilation, CPAP, conjugated jaundice, O2 therapy, various drugs & antibiotics, 2 operations, a stoma & mucus fistula, 8 blood transfusions... but with the selfless round the clock care he received from the amazing nurses, consultants, doctors & surgeons he pulled through and is the most amazing, happy little boy. The support received at St George's was second to none and we feel so lucky to have had our baby there.

First Touch is the amazing charity that supports the neonatal unit and raises much needed funds; the cost for looking after these tiny and sick babies is huge; here are just some of the costs:

Equipment Costs:

Ventilator £25,000

Transport Incubator£36,000

Incubator £15,000 – £30,000

Monitor £12,000

Asena intravenous pump £1,400

Specialist cots £1,300

Apnoea monitor £600

Breastfeeding chairs £350

Developmental items £50 each

Christmas stocking for a baby on the NNU £10

Please help us to support the fantastic work that they continue to do each and every minute of every day, it's a truly amazing place with amazing people and amazing care.