The Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) at Norfolk and Norwich University Hospital helps over 900 babies a year. Some stay on the unit for a few months while they grow and become strong enough to go home, others may just need a few days support. Some babies are born with specific problems and may need surgery or complex medical care.

Freddie is one of the babies that was born with a specific problem that needed surgery. He was born on the 25th September 2022, and needed to be operated on that very day, otherwise he would not have been able to survive. 

At his 20 week scan, a potential echogenic bowel was highlighted, and this was checked routinely with more scans every 4 weeks through the pregnancy. Although the sonograph scans were able to spot an issue in Freddie's bowel before the birth, they were not able to determine exactly what the issue was or exactly where it was located. This caused tremendous stress for Rachel and myself through the pregnancy until we decided, there was nothing we could do, let's just worry about giving birth and then we will deal with Freddie's bowel issue, whatever it may be, down the line. 

This plan worked well enough! I seem to be quite effective at deferring stress for 'future Scott' to deal with. It didn't last long though. Within an hour or so of his birth Freddie was whisked away from us so that the issue revealed in the antenatal sonograph scans could be explored further. It was found that Freddie's large and small intestine were not (and probably never had been) joined. This made feeding, digestion and life impossible without corrective surgery. 

What happened next was that Freddie was operated on at around 7pm in the evening after he had been delivered at 10.50am that morning. The surgery lasted around 4 hours, and involved his small intestine being attached to the large intestine. We were informed of all manner of terrifying possibilities that could stem from the surgery, and waiting to hear the news of how it had gone was where I reached my lowest moment. Thankfully we were visited by the surgery team just before midnight on Freddie's first day (what a 12 hours!) and told that the surgery had gone well, and now a long road to recovery lay ahead for our little man. I essentially think of the surgical team at Norwich as rock stars now, the job they were able to do to operate and save our little 7 lbs Freddie blows my mind when I think about it. Rachel says that she thinks they must have used 'tincy tiny tools' to complete the operation, but I expect it was quite a lot more complicated than that! 

The attaching of the small and large intestine meant that the gut area had been through so much that feeding Freddie was impossible until the area was healed. And we were told even at our midnight chat from the surgical team on Freddie's delivery day that this would be a long and patient process. We were braced for 2 or 3 weeks staying in the hospital whilst he recovered and worked towards feeding. Through this entire period of time we were situated on the NICU, and the level of care Freddie received throughout was truly inspirational. Lots of you that know me very well will know how unlike me it is to write like this. But I feel compelled to do so after having witnessed the amazing care received by Freddie when he needed it most. 

The time on the NICU saw Freddie come off his ventilator post surgery, have his epidural and catheter removed, wound cared for, his first cannula out, NG feeds, pain levels managed, his aspirates tested, comforting techniques taught, science lessons on how feeding intravenously works, terrific breastfeeding support and celebrating his first poo because it meant his bowel was starting to work! Honestly, unbelievable care given twenty four hours a day whilst we watched him healing bit by bit, day by day. Myself and Rachel were able to stay close by, sometimes in a bedroom on the NICU unit itself, sometimes in a NICU flat on the hospital grounds. So we were always close enough to visit and check on our boy, whatever time we wanted to day or night, until we were finally able to all go home together. One of the hardest things about staying in the NICU was leaving Freddie at night time, but what made this much more manageable was the fabulous care of the night duty staff who provided huge confidence and reassurance and could be contacted any time for an update on how he was doing. Absolutely amazing care from the NICU. 

I want to raise some money for them. That's where you come in. And me. 

I'm not going to run a marathon, I'm not going to shave my head, and I'm not going jump out of a plane. All of those things involve you (and me) giving generously once, but I want to milk your generosity several times over a year in order to raise as much money as possible for such a great cause. 

So my proposition is that I am going to try and shed as much timber as I can over the next 12 months. Every pound (lbs!) that I lose I am going to donate five pounds (£!) to this amazing charity. Rachel seemed quite keen to donate £2.50 for every lbs that I lose but I can't for the life of me work out why she was so quick to nudge me towards losing a bit of weight! If some of you that have Amazon shares burning a hole in your pocket want to give even more generously than the poor lady on maternity leave then hey, bully for you! If you wanted to make a pledge to match my pounds (lbs!) lost with a £1 or £2 or 50p then that would be great. It might just give me the kick I need to stop reaching for the biscuits, or make sure that I'm fit enough to not have Freddie mug me off at tennis before he's reached adult life! 

Anything you can give would be great, and of course if you would rather give once and give generously then that would still be amazing. But I am probably still going to pester you every month anyway so it won't necessarily buy you peace and quiet! I will upload a picture of me and Freddie on the 1st of each month with an update on how much weight I've lost (hopefully!), how much I will be donating, and a gentle nudge to pull at your heartstrings and your pockets. 

At the time of leaving the hospital, after far too much stress eating of fry ups in the hospital canteen over the past few weeks, I weigh 285 lbs. So everything lost from here is pounds for pounds! 

Thanks so much everyone! 

Much love, 

Scott, Rachel and Freddie 

Ps. All donations are sent straight to the Norfolk and Norwich Hospitals Charity, by the Just Giving page. Your donation amount should appear on my fundraising page straight away though, messages of encouragement are welcome! Also if you have the option to tick a box for 'Gift Aid', then please do, as it means that Just Giving are able to chase down even more money for our chosen charity.