I know its been a long time since anything was posted; that’s partly down to having a baby at home but mostly, I think, because we don’t know what to say or didn’t want to write anything simply based around the anger I suspect we both felt.
This week, though, I have some good news to share that wouldn’t have been possible with out the support and generosity of family, friends and even strangers.
Back at the end of October, when both of our girls where in the Birmingham Women’s Hospoital Neonatal Unit we set up a JustGiving page to ask for donations that would be used to help the neonatal units (at Royal Bolton Hospital and Birmingham Women’s Hospital) improve their parent facilities and buy developmental care equipment.
The fundraising ended in February and we managed to raise a total of £3,300. JustGiving took their cut when they sent us the money, and as promised, we have made the amount back up to the amount that had been raised. This meant we had 2 comically sized cheques, each for £1,650, waiting to be presented to each of the units.
With the Easter bank holidays we were able to find the time to visit each of the units and present them with their donations.
Royal Bolton Hospital Neonatal Unit
First, we visited the Bolton neonatal unit where we met a lot of the nurses that had looked after the girls and their first doctor. Alexus left this unit in mid August weighing slightly more than her birth weight of 1lb 7oz and still requiring intrusive ventilator support. She returned, nearly 9 months later, weighing somewhere around 15lb 8oz and completely free of all breathing support. Natalie left the unit at the end of September weighing 2lb 13oz requiring instrusive ventilator support.
Alexus gratefully received cuddles from the nurses that could spare the time to hold her and we were pleased to see so many of the faces that had cared for the girls and us during our stay in Bolton.
The money donated to the Bolton unit has been put in to their recently released Special Care for Special Babies appeal and will be used to improve the parent facilities and both the special care and intensive care units to provide more space for parents and families to be with their babies.
Birmingham Women’s Hospital Neonatal Unit
Two days later, we visited the Birmingham neonatal unit where we met even more of the nurses that had looked after the girls. Alexus arrived at Birmingham in mid August weighing slightly more than her birth weight of 1lb 7oz and still requiring intrusive ventilator support. She was allowed home in mid November weighing 7lb 8oz free of all breathing support and returned, nearly 5 months later, weighing somewhere around 15lb 8oz. Natalie arrived at the end of September by blue-lighted ambulance weighing 2lb 13oz and requiring intrusive ventilator support. Natalie left the unit at the start of December weighing 5lb 2oz requiring non-intrusive breathing support.
Once again, Alexus gratefully received cuddles from the nurses that could spare the time to hold her and we were pleased to see so many of the faces that had cared for the girls and us during our time in Birmingham.
The money donated to the Birmingham unit has been earmarked for developmental care equipment. The NHS funding goes towards buying the medical equipment, but it can’t stretch to the developmental care equipment that many premature babies require to help them develop and grow as though they were still in the womb. When babies are born so early, their bodies are not strong enough to counter the effect of gravity and without additional support they can grow and develop in a way that could lead to shortened tendons or muscles. This can lead to difficulties with posture and gait which is why we feel it is important for all premature babies to get the care they need.
Walsall Manor Hospital Neonatal Unit
After spending so long in neonatal units, we were not expecting to be visiting a third especially once Natalie had reached her due date as she would normally be moved to a paediatric unit due to her age. However, there was no space for Natalie on the Walsall Manor paediatric unit and so they snuck her in to the neonatal unit (by blue-lighted ambulance) at the start of December weighing 5lb 2oz requiring non-instrusive breathing support.
Unfortunately, the donations were already being raised for the Birmingham and Bolton units and we didn’t want to cause any confusion by changing it to include a third unit. That doesn’t mean that we aren’t grateful for the care and support Natalie received during her stay on the unit.
When Natalie arrived in Walsall, she didn’t enjoy being touched or held for fear of another failed cannula attempt taking place (we think her record was 9 failed attempts) and, at just over 4 months old, she’d never had a bath. As parents you should be able to calm and reassure your baby but that wasn’t always possible with Natalie. Within a week, the nurses on the neonatal unit had managed to convince Natalie that not all touch was bad, and by the end of her second week on the unit she was having regular baths and cuddles that would relax and soothe her. This was such a big change for us, as a family, because it meant we could help to calm her down rather than having to rely on various drugs.
We can’t thank the nurses from the Walsall Manor Neonatal Unit enough for all they did to allow us to develop our relationship with our tiny princess during her stay with them. We are sure our last week with her wouldn’t have been the same if it wasn’t for what they had achieved.
Natalie was discharged from Walsall Manor on 29th December, weighing 3,300g (7lb 4oz) aged 5 months and 2 days.
We promise that we will bring Alexus back to see you, but we’re just not ready at the moment.
Thank you to all the nurses, doctors, transport teams and everyone who looked after our girls during their journeys through three neonatal units.
The First 6 Weeks 