This page is a small start to saying thank you to the NHS for saving the life of our son, Charlie, who was born at only 1lb 2oz / 520g last year. We have chosen the Glasgow Children’s Hospital Charity as a wonderful organisation that supports children and their families through the toughest moments. 

Our family will be taking part in the Charity’s Sponsored Walk & Fun Day on the 4th September and appreciate any donations to help support this wonderful cause. 

Charlie’s Journey - We knew that Charlie was in trouble from week 17 when an ultrasound showed that he was smaller than expected. That was the moment our lives were turned upside down and we didn’t know if we’d ever meet our son. 

That day was a blur ending in worry and a referral to Fetal medicine. The worry was intense as we entered a weekly cycle between scans,  not knowing if Charlie had survived from scan to scan. The doctors were wonderful and we quickly understood that the goal was to keep Charlie “in the oven” for as long as possible to increase his chances of survival. After 28 weeks and 3 days he was in too much danger and the moment came to deliver. We thought this would straight forward but after being admitted, we lost our bed for Charlie overnight due to an emergency which resulted in a transfer to another hospital which was stressful as you can imagine. 

The delivery went to plan and we were emotional to hear his cries when he was delivered. He made it! After some immediate care, we were passed the smallest baby we’d ever seen for a quick cuddle.  He was beautiful and he was alive. We were thankful for the cuddles at delivery as we had to wait an agonising 7 days before we could have another cuddle, he wasn’t strong enough to come out the incubator.

The 138 days that followed were full of things we never thought we would see or could have imagined...the NICU is a amazing  place but not one any parent wants to experience.

The early days in Neonatal Intensive Care were strange. The overriding feeling was happiness that Charlie was here, but it was like we didn’t realise how critically ill he was. We were running off adrenaline! The nurses spoke about a honeymoon period after birth and that ended with a bump when Charlie’s situation deteriorated quickly and his underdeveloped lungs meant that he needed to be ventilated. A machine breathed for Charlie for more than 50 days and we nearly lost him. We remember the day vividly as a horrible nightmare when the medical staff had ran out of options and everything was on Charlie. We had to literally wait and see if his wee body could get passed this. We felt completely helpless.  He came so close to the edge but our fighter pulled through.

The list of threats to his young life was long…pneumonia, sepsis, collapsed lung and a massive hernia, to name but a few. That hernia would prove to be the second time that we would fear the worst. What was planned as a straightforward repair prior to leaving hospital, became urgent before he was ready to face surgery. He had to be transferred hospital for surgery as the hernia got stuck which put a risk to his life. We knew repairing the hernia would put pressure on his lungs as well. No one knew what the impact would be…The hernia proved to be the largest the surgeons had ever seen in a baby and again all was on Charlie to make it through. To help recovery it’s common to sedate and paralyse babies, which is truly awful for a parent to witness.  Once again he showed us how strong he is.

Finally his recovery and progress allowed the doctors to reduce his breathing support and day-by-day we got closer to bringing him home. We saw every type of breathing support hoping each one would be quicker than the last  but as everything with Charlie, it was a slow journey. After 5 long months, Charlie left the Neonatal Unit to join his family at home :-)

He continues to thrive at home, is the happiest most content baby who brings so much joy to our family. He may be small but his personality and smiles more than makes up for it - we love you Charlie ❤️