✈️ I'm Skydiving for SSNAP on 26th September! ✈️

Daphne was born eight weeks early, weighing just 1.760kg (3.88lbs).

She was born at 32 weeks + 4 days by emergency C-section following complications from pre-eclampsia and intrahepatic cholestasis of pregnancy (ICP). By the time the decision was made to deliver her, I was experiencing kidney and liver failure. Bringing Daphne into the world early was the only way to save both of our lives.

She spent 26 days in total in the NICU at the John Radcliffe Hospital.

The NICU is a terrifying place. Our time there was a rollercoaster of the highest highs and the lowest lows. There were moments of incredible joy, but they were constantly overshadowed by worry, uncertainty and the fear of what the next minute, hour or day might bring.

Looking back, it can be difficult to recognise the beauty in some of those moments because, at the time, I was simply trying to get through each day. But one of the things that made an enormous difference was seeing the friendly, familiar faces of the SSNAP team.

SSNAP supported Daphne and I in so many ways.

Their coffee mornings gave me the chance to meet and talk to other parents whose babies had been born prematurely or sick. They connected me with a psychologist who diagnosed me with postpartum depression and PTSD and, importantly, helped me access the support I needed.

They also helped us practically. During our time in hospital, SSNAP enabled me to stay at Ronald McDonald House, meaning I could remain close to Daphne throughout her stay. And when we finally came home, their wonderful Little SSNAPlings groups, including baby massage with Jo from JoJo Baby Massage, gave me a reason to leave the house each week and spend time in a safe, supportive and caring environment.

These things might sound small, but when you are living through the most frightening experience of your life, they mean everything.

I genuinely don't think I would have survived this experience in the same way without SSNAP. Their support helped me through one of the darkest and most frightening chapters of my life, and I will always be incredibly grateful.

So now I want to give something back.

Anyone who knows me will know that I have a phobia of falling and heights. For a long time, I thought that would always be the scariest thing I could imagine.

But then Daphne was born.

I want to raise money for SSNAP as a way of closing the chapter on the scariest experience of my life — so that the NICU, Daphne's birth and everything we went through there and after no longer have to be the scariest thing I've ever faced.

Instead, I want to turn that experience into something positive.

**Please donate whatever you can to help SSNAP continue supporting premature and sick babies and their families.**

If SSNAP can make even a fraction of the difference for another family that they made for mine, then every penny raised will be worth it.

Thank you for reading our story, and thank you for helping me give something back to the charity that helped us through the hardest days of my life. ❤️