Pippa has always been one for abit of drama and her birth was no different! On the 26th August 2019 after getting herself stuck we finally welcomed her via an emergency section.

After a couple of hours I noticed she had a funny twitch in her left hand. This began to worsen and after being examined by the doctors we knew there was a problem. Within a few hours our world was turned upside down as Pip was transferred via ambulance from NSEC to the RVI's Neo Natal Intensive Care unit where she was put on a cocktail of powerful drugs to help stop the seizures caused by a stroke from the trauma of her delivery. Over the next week Pip was sedated to help keep the seizures under control while her brain tried to heal. 

The whole time she was in the Neo Natal unit she was watched over by so many amazing nurses that helped not only look after her but us as well. These nurses would take pictures and make little keep sakes for a memory box to help make the first weeks of Pip's life special. We later found out that all this was possible due to the help of a charity called Tiny Lives.

The charity provided so many things for us over our time at the RVI:

-Emotional support to my wife and I
-A parking pass for the hospital
-Physio therapy support for Pippa
-Offered to find me accommodation so I could stay close by to Rhona and Pippa
-Provided extra supplies to help with the extra time in hospital
-Printed out photos of Pippa during the day so we could still feel close to her at night
-Gave us a memory box when Pip was discharged

Tiny Lives provides support to so many babies in the neonatal unit and relies on charity donations to enable them to do so. We could not be more grateful to them for helping make a very scary time in our life a little bit easier. That’s why this year I’m taking part in the great north run in a hope that I’ll be able to raise money to help tiny lives support other parents that need them in the future. 

We have been so lucky that Pip has been such a little fighter and made a amazing recovery after a difficult start in life! 

Thank you for your support :)