The Oliver fisher baby unit at Medway hospital is a local charity that we are very proud to raise money for at Matalan Strood. 

With some of my colleagues having had their children or grandchildren in the unit, they all say how wonderful the nurses and staff are that work in the unit and how hard they work. I really want to raise as much money as possible to help them, help those precious little babies. 

Please give anything you can, even £1 and please gift aid it if you can.

Thank you so much, 

From everyone at Matalan Strood and myself,

 Kirsty xxx

Please take the time to read the story below. The reason why it's so important for this charity to get as much money as possible to be able to help and support these family's and  babies.

We were really excited when I found out I was pregnant with my second baby who was due on August 23rd 2005. Pregnancy was going fine with no problems, until I reached 22 weeks.  I developed a pain in my chest area, and went to my local GP (27th April) who diagnosed heartburn and advised me to take gaviscon.  So I did, but the pain just got worse.  On the Friday 29th April, I contacted the pregnancy Day Case Unit at Medway and they advised me to go in for tests.

I was admitted that night and kept in for tests, on the Monday 2nd May, the hospital diagnosed HELLP syndrome, a very rare form of eclampsia, (a potentially fatal disorder affecting pregnant women and their unborn children).  I was told that my baby had to be delivered immediately in order to save my life.  As you can imagine this was a massive shock to Daveand I, as we didn’t realise how ill I was, everything was such a blur.

 

On Tuesday 3rd May I was induced by drip, I gave birth naturally to my son Adam at just 24 weeks gestation.  He was delivered with all the membrane still intact ‘born in a bubble’ so to speak.   He weighed 1 lb 4 oz / 560g, so tiny no bigger than the palm of my hand.

He was taken immediately by the Special Care Baby Unit (SCBU), resuscitated and put on a ventilator. He had wires attached to every limb it was so scary as we were totally unaware of what the future would hold, or whether he would survive being so small and vulnerable. 

Adam had a very stressful 24 hours; he had lost a lot of blood which meant he had to have a series of blood transfusion.   When I went to visit Adam for the first time in SCBU, all I can remember was how hot it was due to the amount of machinery, and the constant beeping.  Adam was in an incubator near the window, he looked so tiny lying there.   Over the next few days, Adam remained stable; we had our formal chat with one of the consultants who explained to us about the condition of Adams Heart, Lungs, Head and Stomach, which were all so immature due to him being born so early, and his chances of survival.  All this information was so hard to take on-board when you are still coping with the shock.  We were told to take each day at a time.   

After 4 weeks we were advised that Adam would have to go to St Thomas for a heart operation known as a Patent Ductus Arteriosus (PDA), a duct in his heart hadn’t closed on its own, and the medication hadn’t worked either, therefore an op was required.  We were told that this was routine for premature babies, but nothing can prepare you.

The op went well and Adam was transferred back to Medway after a couple of days, he then had a phase of chest spasm and twitching in his limbs which he was given medication for.  Still on the ventilator but being weaned down very slowly, also tolerating his feeds, but the stats continued to be up and down, but slowing he was improving.  He also went through stages of pulling his tubes out, which caused mayhem. 

By the middle of June (6 weeks after his birth) Adam was transferred to Continuous Positive Airway Pressure (CPAP), which was a positive step forward.  His milk feeds had increased and he was steadily gaining weight, he reached 2 lb‘a milestone’.  By 29th June he was coming off CPAP 1 hour in 8, which was really good to finally be able to see Adam’s face without anything attached to it.  Over the next few weeks Adam gradually increased the amount of time off the CPAP, and by middle of July he went to oxygen only.   

We were then told he had a bilateral hernia which meant another trip to London, and stage II of Retinopathy of Prematurity (ROP).  If the ROP got to stage III then it would mean laser surgery on his eyes, luckily for him it never got that far.  

Adam was now transferred to theHigh Dependency Unit (HDU), and on 28th July we were allowedto bath him for the first time, quite challenging trying to undress and bath a very small baby with a cannulae attached, but a good experience as it was preparing us for when Adam would be coming home.  It took over 3 months before anyone would talk to us and prepare us for his homecoming, up until then it was each day at a time.  Finally the end was insight.  Adam continued to gain weight and feed four hourly by bottle.  The doctors wanted him as strong and possible before they arranged his hernia op.  

On 18th August, Adam was transported to Kings Hospital London for his hernia op, another terrifying experience.  He had to be re-ventilated for the op, and we were advised he would be on it for a few days after as well.  Adam’s op went fine, but he seemed to take a long time to recover, he was sedated for a couple of days as he let everyone know he wasn’t ready to come off the ventilator.  We ended up being at Kings for nearly a week, but when we did get back to Medway, he was almost ready to come home.

On our return we were advised that Adam would be coming home on oxygen, due to his Chronic Lung Disease (CLD) and it had been arranged for the equipment to be installed at home, we were also given demonstrations on how to resuscitate, and how to use the oxygen equipment.  It was all very positive butquite daunting at the same time.  We had also arranged to do our ‘rooming in’, to make sure we were capable of managing our premature baby at home with the oxygen.

Finally after 17 very long weeks, Adam was able to come home.  It was quite an exciting day, a day that we didn’t think would ever come.  But thanks to all the wonderful staff at SCBU, it made this day possible.  We cannot express enough our thanks and gratitude to everyone involved in such a dedicated unit, for giving our little boy a chance.

Having a baby born at 24 weeks was the hardest thing we have ever had to deal with, I suffered with insomnia, stress and constant worrying with the ‘what if’ syndrome, an emotional rollercoaster for us all with good days and bad days, we didn’t know what to expect from one day to the next.   But with the strong support of all our family and friends, and all the staff at the neonatal unit we got through it, 

Adam did not have a very good start to life, but he is now a thriving terrible two year old, who is very cheeky and strong willed, he has a lovely personality, although very naughty at times, we wouldn’t change him for the world.  Although he doesn’t know it yet, he saved my life by risking his own.  One day, when he is old enough, we are going to tell him what a miracle he really is.

Love 

Allison, Dave, Matthew and Adam Webb.

I want to thank Allison and her family for letting me share their story. Adam is now a healthy, happy 10 year old boy. 

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