Thank you for taking the time to visit my JustGiving page.

11th October 2019 is a date that changed our lives forever. After a 5 day mini break to New York and Boston I was 23 weeks and 5 days pregnant when I boarded the plane to fly home to the UK.
However, moments before take-off I suffered a placental abruption and was taken by ambulance to Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston.

After 17 days in hospital moving between a high-risk labour & delivery and a post-partum ward, my miracle son Alfie was born very unexpectedly at 26 weeks exactly weighing just 2lbs and 2ozs (964g).

Not only was Alfie's birth extremely traumatic and unexpected, he was face-presented (1 in 1000 chance) which caused further complications and was so small due to being so premature, the doctors lost his heart-rate in the delivery room. The words “we have five minutes left to get this baby out” will stay with me for the rest of my life.

At 26 weeks’ gestation, Alfie falls into the 5% minority of premature babies classified as Extremely Preterm. As such our NICU stay of 102 days was somewhat longer than the average 7 days. Most notably, Alfie had respiratory distress syndrome so he needed oxygen support for the first 48 days of his life and he suffered a significant intraventricular haemorrhage (bleeding around the brain).

After three months living in Boston we were med-flighted back to the UK on 10th January 2020 which was another traumatic
experience involving three flights in 24 hours and Alfie going back on oxygen. He spent two weeks at East Surrey hospital and we eventually went home on 23rd January, 10 days before my due
date.

I always refer to Alfie as my miracle as he is just that. He has overcome so many obstacles - he is walking, talking and has the most infectious smile and giggle and I've never been more proud of anything in my life. 

The Smallest Things are the most incredible charity and have supported me in so many ways since returning to the UK and do so much to help families of premature babies, raising awareness of the short and longer term effects of premature birth but also providing comfort and a network to families who so desperately need it. 

You can read more about the charity and the blog I wrote for them here:

https://www.thesmallestthings.org/neonatal-journeys/our-american-boy

I'm incredibly proud to volunteer for this charity and everything it stands for.

Thank you in advance for your support