Tommy
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Tommy was born at the end of 2017, just before Christmas. His birth started fairly easily. However, it soon became apparent that he was going to come in quite a rush. As Tommy started to be born, his shoulders got stuck. The midwife was unable to get him free and the emergency button was pressed. An entire team filled the room and Tommy was yanked out, blue and not breathing. He was resuscitated for five and a half minutes; the longest of our lives.
Tommy was revived and immediately taken to NICU, where he was placed under observation for signs of trauma and given oxygen to help regulate his breathing. Still stunned and exhausted from the birth we finally went to meet Tommy, hours after his arrival. The fear and distress we felt seeing Tommy with tubes in his hands and mouth is still very hard to describe. I spent the next few days sitting by his side. Tommy seemed to be improving. The nurses even took his tube feed and oxygen tubes off. He managed to have his first cuddle and small breast feed. In fact, he was doing so well he was moved to the less high dependency area of the unit. I felt safe enough after that to leave his side long enough to try and have a night’s sleep.
However, during the night, Tommy had started to fit. When I arrived in the morning, he had been moved back to intensive care, with needles in his head and in his hands again. The doctors explained that, due to the traumatic birth, there could have been many things including a stroke that could be causing Tommy to fit.
Over the next couple of days, my husband and myself were beside ourselves. The doctors were struggling to find a medicine to stop the fits. They tried a couple without any improvement. Our darkest hour was when it was explained to us that Tommy may not make it through his current state, and if he did, there was a chance that there could be permanent injuries to his brain.
Then, miraculously, after being put onto a new drug, Tommy started to respond. His fitting stopped and his brain movements and body seemed to show all the signs of normalising. Slowly, over days the doctors weaned him off of his antispasmodic drugs, sedation, drips and feed tubes. Tommy woke up and fed! Two days later we took him home.
We learned in time that Tommy had suffered a brain bleed. Despite having been an awful time we’re so eternally grateful to all the staff in Lister NICU for their calm, patient help and expert care. They don’t just look after the babies, they counsel the parents through their traumas too.
Tommy is now a happy one year old boy. He currently shows no signs of any lasting damage from his hard birth and we will never forget everything that was done for him and all of us.
Tommy was revived and immediately taken to NICU, where he was placed under observation for signs of trauma and given oxygen to help regulate his breathing. Still stunned and exhausted from the birth we finally went to meet Tommy, hours after his arrival. The fear and distress we felt seeing Tommy with tubes in his hands and mouth is still very hard to describe. I spent the next few days sitting by his side. Tommy seemed to be improving. The nurses even took his tube feed and oxygen tubes off. He managed to have his first cuddle and small breast feed. In fact, he was doing so well he was moved to the less high dependency area of the unit. I felt safe enough after that to leave his side long enough to try and have a night’s sleep.
However, during the night, Tommy had started to fit. When I arrived in the morning, he had been moved back to intensive care, with needles in his head and in his hands again. The doctors explained that, due to the traumatic birth, there could have been many things including a stroke that could be causing Tommy to fit.
Over the next couple of days, my husband and myself were beside ourselves. The doctors were struggling to find a medicine to stop the fits. They tried a couple without any improvement. Our darkest hour was when it was explained to us that Tommy may not make it through his current state, and if he did, there was a chance that there could be permanent injuries to his brain.
Then, miraculously, after being put onto a new drug, Tommy started to respond. His fitting stopped and his brain movements and body seemed to show all the signs of normalising. Slowly, over days the doctors weaned him off of his antispasmodic drugs, sedation, drips and feed tubes. Tommy woke up and fed! Two days later we took him home.
We learned in time that Tommy had suffered a brain bleed. Despite having been an awful time we’re so eternally grateful to all the staff in Lister NICU for their calm, patient help and expert care. They don’t just look after the babies, they counsel the parents through their traumas too.
Tommy is now a happy one year old boy. He currently shows no signs of any lasting damage from his hard birth and we will never forget everything that was done for him and all of us.