When Phil and I found out we were having a baby girl at our 20-week scan we were over the moon. Little did we know that just 5 weeks and 4 days later our little fighter would be making her first appearance!
Neve was due on March 14th 2016, but on 3rd December 2015, I was admitted to the maternity ward at Arrowe Park Hospital with ruptured waters. The plan was to stay on antibiotics and put my feet up for a couple of months before being induced on February 1st.
Neve however had other ideas!
The very next day on Friday 4th December 2015 I went into spontaneous labour and delivered our beautiful baby girl at 8.40pm that night. Neve was born at 25 weeks and 4 days, weighed just 840 grams (1lb 14.5oz) and had just a 30% chance of survival but she arrived kicking and screaming nonetheless.
The Neonatal team arrived and very quickly whisked her off to be intubated (put on a ventilator) and taken to intensive care on the unit.
Whilst on the unit, Neve fought off various infections, had 9 blood transfusions, and went on many courses of antibiotics and pain killers.
Over her first Christmas, when she was just over 2 weeks old, she became so poorly with a tummy infection called necrotising enterocolitis (NEC) she was classed as clinically unstable and her weight dropped to 1lb 11oz.
I thought having my baby so early was the most terrifying experience of my life but that was nothing compared to watching her get so poorly and not being able to do anything to make her better.
Amazingly, with the help of the incredible staff on the unit, our gorgeous little fighter pulled through. She then went from strength to strength and after 7 weeks in intensive care she was moved to the high dependency room.
Whilst in HDU she continued to grow and was able to come off a ventilator and onto other methods of ventilation. She was moved into the last room on the unit, called nursery, in late February. Whilst there she learnt to feed rather than be tube fed, control her own body temperature and breathe on low flow oxygen.
Finally, on the 9th March 2016, after 95 days on the unit Phil and I were able to bring our beautiful little fighter home. It was the happiest and proudest day of my life.
