Betty, 24 weeks

Miracle mum Emma shares Betty's story:

At 23 +4 days, my waters broke at home and I was admitted to hospital where I spent 5 days being monitored and was sent home on bedrest hoping that I was part of the 50% that made it full term, not the 50% who delivered early. My daughter had her own plans and came at 24 +2 days, less than 24 hours after being home. My husband and I rushed to Logan Hospital and made it with minutes to spare when Betty made her entrance into the world, surprisingly to all of us screaming despite needing to be incubated asap. This was the beginning of a 17-week NICU inpatient stay for Betty including multiple complex procedures, all types of breathing support and coming home on oxygen.

It was 48 hours till I was able to hold her and go kangaroo care and took 4 nurses to transfer her too me. As a second time mum, when I was pregnant, I thought I would have better insight into birth and the fourth trimester (postpartum), however nothing could prepare me for life with a baby in the NICU. Betty went through so many ups and downs from being septic, infections, ROP stage 2, Skin integrity injuries and back and forth on breathing every type of breathing support. I spent 6 days a week in the hospital, driving back and forth (3 hours a day) so I could spend time with my son at home on Sundays. My husband and I have an extreme version of divide and conquer as the new parents to two kids… he supported our son at home and I supported our daughter in the NICU and we were passing ships in the night, seeing each other in my pumping sessions every 3hours.

After 15 weeks at the Mater NICU, Betty was transferred closer to home to Logan SCU for a week where she was transferred home at 2 days corrected. Unfortunately, that was not the end of our hospital stays as 5 days later, Betty became non-responsive in her car seat as we pulled up to her ROP appointment. Whereas, I had to do CPR on her whilst my husband called for help and a kind-hearted stranger stopped to help whilst we waited for emergency services to arrive. Betty then spent another week in the PICU at the QLD Children’s Hospital from being asymptotic from multiple infections.

Betty came home a second time on low flow oxygen, 24 hours a day. My maternity leave was filled with weekly appointments for her follow up and care. At 12 months corrected, Betty came off daytime oxygen and at 23months corrected, she came off all oxygen support. She is a healthy, sassy, curious and kind 2 yr old now, who adores her older brother, reading, colouring in and water play. She continues to keep us on our toes as she continues to be a fighter, now fighting to get her own way and we love her for it.

We are eternally grateful for the support of the NICU/ SCU teams who supported Betty and us through our time there. Their kindness, patience and endless support in the hardest moments of our lives was the invaluable and we will always be thankful for it.