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In August 2009 I was admitted to the Countess of Chester with severe pre-eclampsia.  Within 24 hours our twin boys Ben and Josh had been delivered by emergency C-section at just 31 weeks and 3 days gestation.  The boys were a good size for their gestation but were still tiny with Ben weighing 3lbs 14oz and Josh just 3lbs 8oz.

The boys were born breathing on their own but needed breathing assistance within the first couple of hours after their birth.  They were both put on C-PAP to help with their breathing but unfortunately they still struggled and 24 hours after they were born they were both ventilated.  For the next week the boys remained in intensive care in the neo natal unit on ventilators with Ben also suffering a punctured lung.  The staff in the neo natal unit were amazing and offered constant reassurance and advice whilst also providing amazing care to the boys.

The boys spent a total of 8 weeks in the neo natal unit finally coming home just a few days before their due date of 26 October 2009.  Today we have two healthy happy 8 year old boys who have no lasting effects of their early arrival into the world.  We have absolutely no doubt that without the care of the doctors and nurses at the Countess of Chester neo natal unit that we would not have our boys today.  It is therefore for this reason that we are running the London Marathon in 2018 to raise funds for the Babygrow Appeal, to help raise £2.4 million to fund a new neo natal unit at the Countess to help all of the sick and premature babies born in the future.

The training is already proving to be tough & with the cold winter months ahead of us we hope that you will donate as much as you can to help this fantastic cause and to help motivate us on those long cold winter training runs!!  xx