Taylor James Quayle was born by emergency c-section on 10th of August 2015, 16 weeks prematurely, due to his Mummy having life threatening pregnancy conditions; Severe pre-eclampsia and Hellp Syndrome. He was born weighing a small but mighty 1lb 4. His chance of surviving birth was 50% and we were informed his chance of living beyond his first hour of life was another 50%. He was born at his local hospital but within hours of his birth he was transferred to St Peter's Neonatal Intensive Care Unit as they offered the level of care he needed. St Peter's is the only hospital in Surrey which provides Level 3 Neonatal care.

Taylor spent 4 months at St Peter's Neonatal Intensive Care Unit before
being well enough to be transferred back to his local hospital.

During Taylor's stay there was 28 principal problems/diagnosis.

Taylor was on a ventilator for 54 days and then on high pressure oxygen for another 54 days, before successfully transitioning to low pressure oxygen through a nasal cannula.

Four weeks after Taylor was born he became critically unwell with heart and lung problems.  We were informed that they had put every intervention available in place to address his presenting conditions but he was still deteriorating and they were very worried about him. This was probably our darkest time during the journey; after seeing him fight for his life for four weeks we were once again fearing we were going to lose our amazing son. Due to the Unit's medical expertise, nursing care and outstanding equipment Taylor overcame his critical health problems at this time.

Taylor had regular brain scans, x-rays, echo's and eye tests to monitor ongoing health problems or concerns.

Taylor was treated for minor infections and ongoing health problems such as anaemia, jaundice and low platelets.

He was successfully treated twice for suspected Necrotizing
enterocolitis (NEC), which is a serious illness in which tissues in the intestine become inflamed and start to die. This can lead to a perforation developing, which allows the contents of the intestine to leak into the abdomen. This can cause a very dangerous life threatening infection. 

Following Taylor having heart surgery he was finally stable enough to be extubated off the ventilator.

Following his extubation Taylor continued to have almost daily severe desaturations, apnea's and bradycardia's which the highly trained staff were able to deal with swiftly and machinery intervention was required to get him breathing again.

Taylor had eye laser surgery to treat Stage 3 Retinopathy of Prematurity (ROP), which is potentially a blinding eye disorder.

In addition to all this outstanding medical care by the Consultant's, Doctors and Nursing Team and the vast amount of medical equipment, we were able to stay at the parent accommodation on the Unit in the initial days and at times when Taylor's health had deteriorated.  Being able to stay on the Unit at the most critical times was extremely valuable to us.  

The support  and aim of the staff to ensure we understood our son's health problems; the treatment options/plans, and encouraging us to be involved in his personal care and promote bonding with Taylor such as offering kangaroo care was exemplary.

Taylor went through a very complex journey and as one nurse said he practically went through everything in the textbook and tried
out all their equipment.  During our time at St Peter's we saw many babies born too soon, too small or too sick, overcome their health problems.  Sadly there will be many more babies that will need the superb medical expertise and equipment from St Peter's NICU. The Unit strives to give these miracle babies the best chance of survival and better long term outcomes.  
 

We will be forever in awe of St Peter's Neonatal Unit.  All donations will be fondly received. Donated funds are utilized to purchase specialist equipment, training and financially support the parent accommodation. If anyone would like to organise or participate in a fundraising event for this cause we hold dear to our hearts, then please get in contact with us.  

Please watch this page for future fundraising events. 

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