Thanks for taking the time to visit my JustGiving page.

You all know how much I love a crazy challenge and how on the 6th July this year I completed a half marathon hike in the Cotswolds with a group of lovely work colleagues. I won't lie, it was hard but I absolutely loved it (bonkers I know) and have decided to challenge myself further. I will be taking on the South Coast Challenge, a 25km (15 miles) hike on my own through the South Downs National Park and hopefully raising money for a very special charity close to mine and my families hearts.

SSNAP is an amazing charity based at the John Radcliffe (JR) hospital in Oxford, support sick newborn babies and their parents; we have experienced their support first hand and also seen them support friends and family. Not only do SSNAP support the families of sick and premature babies, they also fund equipment, training and lifesaving research.

Here's our story:

Our story is a little bit different as our baby was not premature and takes a little explaining, so please bear with me till the end...

After what has been described as a textbook pregnancy, on the 17th February 2021 I was admitted to the JR with pre-eclampsia; this

was not completely unexpected as there is a family history but we had reached 41 weeks pregnant so it did come as a surprise. Unfortunately, due to covid restrictions at the time Pete was not allowed to be with me during this time and we both just had to wait; Pete at home and me on my own in a side room on the antenatal ward.

Fastforward to the early hours of the morning on the 20th and I was taken to a delivery suite and Pete was finally allowed into the hospital; sadly things did not progress how anyone would have hoped and after 16 hours we were taken to theatre for an emergency c-section and our beautiful daughter Matilda was born and she was absolutely perfect, weighing in at a very healthy 9lbs. After Matilda’s arrival I became very unwell, very quickly and ended up requiring a general anaesthetic, as well as a blood transfusion. Due to the complications I encountered I ended up spending two nights on the observation ward with Matilda before being transferred to postnatal ward where we spent a night before being discharged on the 23rd February. It was such a relief to be going home and finally being able to see Pete as we’d last seen him very late in the evening on the 20th but to be honest I was completely out of it and don’t have much memory of spending anytime with him before he had to leave due to the covid restrictions.

We had a home visit from our midwife on the 24th and everything seems to be going well, Matilda was latching well and I was doing ok. On the 25th (my birthday), we took Matilda for her 5 day check up, I really wasn’t feeling very well and when they weighed her we were all shocked to discover that she has lost 17.5% of her birth weight. It turns out that the pre-eclampsia had come back (we’ve since learnt that it can peak at day 5 after birth) and we both got readmitted to the JR.

On arrival we were greeted by the infant feeding team, a midwife and a paediatrician; unfortunately, due to covid restrictions Pete had to leave us at the door. Much debate was had as to whether or not Matilda’s birth weight was correct as she was not showing any signs of dropping so much weight; she was bright, alert and latching well. Thankfully Pete had taken a picture of her on the scales so we knew it was correct.

It is at this point that I discovered that following Matilda’s safe arrival I lost almost 3 litres of blood and that alongside the other complications had a massive effect on my bodies ability to produce milk; which is what had caused Matilda to become unwell and why she was admitted to the high dependency unit (HDU). When I first went down to HDU with her, I didn’t really know what to expect, I was still quite unwell and completely overwhelmed as it was an intimating environment to be in on my own but I was greeted by an extremely lovely nurse who explained what they were planning on doing to help Matilda get better and gave me a welcome pack full of lots of information about the unit, contact information, as well as details about SSNAP. It was a lot to take in and made even harder as I had to leave Matilda on her own and go back up to the ward to be looked after as well. It wasn’t until the next day that I found we had a welcome box from SSNAP, it contained things that I would never have considered having with me; ear plugs, a pen and notebook, water bottle, a teddy bear, as well as lots of information. We were also visited by a lady from the SSNAP team who came round with drinks and snacks, and just made sure we were ok and explained that there was a kitchen with tea and coffee if we needed it, as well as where they were if we needed anything.

Matilda spent 2 nights in HDU and 1 night in the low dependency unit (LDU) before she was well enough to join me on the ward. Although our time in HDU and LDU was only short, the kindness we experienced meant a huge amount. At the time I said to Pete (who was allowed to visit Matilda in HDU and LDU) I wanted to do something to give something back to SSNAP and maybe I should sign up and run the Oxford half marathon! He pointed out that it would take some time to recover and maybe look at doing a 5k first; as always he was right, I’ve still not run a 5k but in the summer of 2021 I signed up to jump out of a plane at 15,000 feet! It was an incredible experience which I'm not in a hurry to repeat but I've found a passion for walking, something I've always enjoyed and never really done on my own, so I thought as I enjoyed the half marathon hike, why not challenging myself and do it 25km on my own and try and raise some money for SSNAP

I think what I have been trying to say is that SSNAP made a very difficult time easier and I can’t put into words what they mean to us hence my rambling.

Thank you for taking the time to read our story and thank you for any donation you can make. I am extremely grateful for your support and however much you help me raise will be matched by my wonderful employer Ellacotts, up to £500.00

Andrea x x