Hi All,

My name is Ella.

I got pregnant at the beginning of the year.

Unfortunately, I became diagnosed with Intraheptic cholestasis of pregnancy at just 16 weeks.

its a condition affecting your liver in pregnancy. Normally, bile acids are made in the liver and flow to your gut to help you digest food. But in ICP, the bile acids build up in your body instead. The symptoms were severe itching which worsened at night and there was no treatment that worked.

Due to the severity of my condition and bile acid levels we were told about the risks of still birth being higher and combined with gestational diabetes we were advised the best option was to get Murphy out before he reached 35 weeks.

Murphy was born at 34 weeks and 2 days old via c section.

He was then quickly rushed to the Neonatal intensive care unit. He needed assistance with breathing and was fed through a tube.

The staff at the unit were extremely caring, helpful and ensured Murphy progressed quickly, learning to breathe by himself, having other checks and eventually helped me to breastfeed so we were able to bring him home 8 days later.

The staff care for so many babies from all ranges of weeks and different care needs. They were all amazing and really gave the appropriate time and care to each little one in need. we would love to give back.

We also had the help of Sophies legacy charity, providing meals, snacks and a place to sit and take our time. Sophies legacy is a wonderful charity stemming from a beautiful girl wanting to provide help to parents in these situations.

The donations we receive will be going half to the nicu team and half to Sophies legacy.

We as a family greatly appreciate any donations to be able to pass on to both.

We were so grateful for the care and support we received and being able to bring our boy home.