Story
On 10th February 2017 our twin daughters, Emily and Alice were born at just over 30 weeks, nearly 2 and a half months early. Their premature birth was totally unexpected. The girls spent 5 weeks in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) and Special Care Baby Unit (SCBU) at the Whittington Hospital, and were looked after brilliantly by the committed medical team there.
Nobody expects to have a premature baby and like most parents, we were in a state of shock. We felt utterly helpless as we looked at our tiny daughters in their incubators and tried to come to terms with the long journey ahead. I will never forget the moment when we left the hospital, leaving our newborn babies behind for the first time.
Nobody understands what having a premature baby is like unless they’ve experienced it themselves. I couldn’t hold them initially and they could only tolerate minimal touching. I faced 5 weeks of constantly expressing breastmilk for my babies until they were big enough to feed. It was certainly the most challenging period of our lives, but we were very lucky and now have 2 happy and healthy little girls. Via Whittington Babies, parents who had experienced similar journeys came to chat to us while the girls were in hospital and helped us navigate a hugely complex and emotional time.
As many of you know, I’ve run many marathons before. However, with 3 young children, the 2018 Brighton Marathon will be my most challenging race yet, but I hope to raise as much money as I can for Whittington Babies, for their work supporting babies and their families.
I will be forever thankful to the Whittington for caring for our girls so well.
Thank you xx
Thanks for taking the time to visit my JustGiving page.
Donating through JustGiving is simple, fast and totally secure. Your details are safe with JustGiving - they'll never sell them on or send unwanted emails. Once you donate, they'll send your money directly to the charity. So it's the most efficient way to donate - saving time and cutting costs for the charity.
Nobody expects to have a premature baby and like most parents, we were in a state of shock. We felt utterly helpless as we looked at our tiny daughters in their incubators and tried to come to terms with the long journey ahead. I will never forget the moment when we left the hospital, leaving our newborn babies behind for the first time.
Nobody understands what having a premature baby is like unless they’ve experienced it themselves. I couldn’t hold them initially and they could only tolerate minimal touching. I faced 5 weeks of constantly expressing breastmilk for my babies until they were big enough to feed. It was certainly the most challenging period of our lives, but we were very lucky and now have 2 happy and healthy little girls. Via Whittington Babies, parents who had experienced similar journeys came to chat to us while the girls were in hospital and helped us navigate a hugely complex and emotional time.
As many of you know, I’ve run many marathons before. However, with 3 young children, the 2018 Brighton Marathon will be my most challenging race yet, but I hope to raise as much money as I can for Whittington Babies, for their work supporting babies and their families.
I will be forever thankful to the Whittington for caring for our girls so well.
Thank you xx
Thanks for taking the time to visit my JustGiving page.
Donating through JustGiving is simple, fast and totally secure. Your details are safe with JustGiving - they'll never sell them on or send unwanted emails. Once you donate, they'll send your money directly to the charity. So it's the most efficient way to donate - saving time and cutting costs for the charity.