Im taking on this challenge this February to support Little Roo Neonatal Fund. Running 65 miles in 28 days in February for my Twins who were born at 28 weeks! To support, raise money & give something back to a Charity which done so much for us in our time in NICU.

Little Roo Neonatal Fund supports poorly and premature babies, their families and the staff who care for them at St Peter's Hospital Neonatal Intensive Care Unit. Each year more than 700 babies are admitted for life saving care - with your help we can provide supplementary specialist life saving equipment, such as ventilators and incubators, support families to stay with and care for their baby on NICU, and help the incredible NICU team to provide the highest level of care through additional training and supporting their wellbeing.

When Charlotte went for her 20 week scan they noticed that Twin 1 (Tommy) had a narrow aorta, the valve in the heart that pumps blood to the bottom half of your body. This meant she had to be referred to St George’s Hospital fetal medicine unit to do a more detailed scan on Tommys heart and they confirmed coarctation of the aorta. This heart condition meant that Tommy would have needed surgery to correct this soon after birth. St George’s suggested we do a genetic test called a cvs test consisting of a 20cm needle to collect amniotic fluid around Tommy to see if this heart condition was due to any genetic or chromosome condition. This was a hard decision as Charlotte had attended alone and not prepared for this cvs test but went ahead to check both Tommy and Freddy to prepare us for the future. A good few weeks later and the test was clear for Tommy and inconclusive for Freddy.

On the 20th of February when Charlotte was 28+1 weeks we attended St George’s for the 4th time for another consultant check up, growth scan and heart scan. When we were 10 minutes away Charlotte explained that her stomach felt tight, and when we arrived she went to the toilet and noticed there was blood. We went to fetal medicine unit, they did a blood test and she explained what she was feeling but wasn’t really heard, it was the busiest Monday with lots of doctors nurses pacing around. Charlotte had Tommys heart scan and they discovered his narrow aorta had opened up and corrected itself which was a massive relief! But at this point Charlotte was getting flustered and was feeling pain and still was made to wait.

The growth scan came along and the sonographer explained that Charlotte needs to be seen as she too could feel her contractions on her stomach. Charlotte was wheeled to delivery suite and there they found she was fully dilated ready to push! in came a nurse, doctor, Nicu team, midwife and student midwife each for Tommy and Freddy. Tommy was born first and intubated straight away and weighed 2lb 4, then Freddy was born 34 minutes later weighing 2lb 3 and he too was intubated and taken to the Nicu. The boys spent 10 days at St George’s while they waited for incubator space at our local hospital St Peter’s in chertsey.

Once at St Peter's the Little Roo Charity were great at supporting parents and siblings, our eldest Lewis was almost 3 and it was so hard on him being separated from us on and off without understanding what was going on. Lewis received a colouring pack and goody bag from little roo charity which helped him feel included and keep him busy if we bought him up to see his brothers. The boys spent 65 days in Nicu with lots of ups and downs needing certain medications and blood transfusions. They got to come home along with oxygen on the 25th of April. The Nicu journey doesn’t always end at home as they did need to go back to St George’s to be intubated due to contracting bronchiolitis 5 weeks after discharge.

Tommy and Freddy are almost 8 now and are doing really well. We are so grateful for the team at St Peter’s and would really appreciate any donations towards the Little Roo charity to continue supporting parents families like ours and helping sick and premature babies have the best possible chance at life.