Paxton was born in September 2023 at 34 weeks. During a routine antenatal appointment, my midwife noticed his heartbeat was dangerously slow, so I was quickly transferred to another hospital for an emergency caesarean under general anaesthesia. I woke up hours later to hear my midwife say, “You have a little boy."
Paxton needed immediate support—respiratory help, surfactant, and intubation. They closely monitored his heart, and I was too weak to visit him until the next day after receiving a blood transfusion and iron infusion. We spent three weeks in the NICU, where Paxton had a nasogastric tube for feeding. Every feeding involved drawing out and testing his stomach contents to make sure it was still there before he could eat.
After Paxton was discharged, and with a clean bill of health from his cardiologist, he’s been thriving ever since. It was an incredibly challenging start, but our little fighter has been nothing short of amazing.