Lister Neonatal Unit Families Group
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  • Home
  • The Big Build
    • 12 HOUR CYCLE-ATHON
    • CHORAL CONCERT AT ST MARYS
  • Neonatal Stories
    • Babies born before 27 weeks
    • Babies born at 27 - 30 weeks
    • Babies born at 31 - 36 weeks
    • Babies born at term
  • Fundraising
    • Previous fundraisers
    • Rowathon 2017
    • Celebration Mural >
      • Order a print of the mural
      • How donations help
  • Blog
  • About Us
  • Support
  • Contact Us

Isabella
Born in July 2011 at 26+1

Picture
Getting pregnant proved tricky for us. After trying for a year and many tests, we were told the only way for us to get pregnant would be to use donor eggs. We undertook one cycle of treatment and were very lucky to get pregnant first time.

The pregnancy proceeded normally until week 23. I started to notice my ankles were swelling and I was getting lots of headaches. I was admitted to Lister hospital when I was 24 weeks pregnant. I was diagnosed with pre eclampsia. I was transferred to Norfolk and Norwich hospital as the baby would be too early for Lister to deal with.

Isabella was born on 21st July at 26+1weeks gestation weighing 1lb 6oz. She was born by emergency c-section after I developed Hellp syndrome.

Isabella was in good condition when she was born and came out breathing and making little noises. She was stabilised in theatre then transferred to Nicu.

Nicu put her on a ventilator as she would have tired really quickly. She was given lots of different medications to stabilise her, most of which were given through a line in her umbilical cord.

Isabella spent 10 days on the ventilator, before moving on to CPAP. She then progressed quite quickly to Vapotherm. And then eventually oxygen through nasal cannulas.

I think we were lucky in our journey - although we had many scares with infections,  she never actually caught any.

After 7 weeks Isabella finally weighed the golden weight of 1kg so we could be tranferred back to Lister. It was very emotional moving to another Nicu with different nurses. It took a couple of days but we did eventually settle in.

Isabella spent another 5 weeks in Lister Nicu. We finally got to go home when she was 12 weeks old, 2 weeks before her due date. She came home on oxygen which wasn’t as bad as I thought and it became normal very quickly.

We have had a few hiccups along the way and a couple of hospital visits, but Isabella is now a happy, very chatty, just turned 4 year old.

The Lister Neonatal Families Group fundraises as part of East & North Herts Hospitals Charity
Registered charity in England and Wales no. 1053338


Hours

M-F: 9am - 5pm

Email

listerneonatalfamiliesgroup@gmail.com