Fundraiser for Oliver Fisher NICU

Seb will be running the Paddock Wood Half Marathon to raise vital funds for The Oliver Fisher Special Care Baby Unit which is a charity that means so much to us, here’s why ….

On the 25th June 2018 at 4.11am Oscar was born, weighing 8lb 15ozs

Oscar was born overdue at 40 weeks + 5 days, after a fairly straight forward pregnancy and getting to full term I naively thought that we would never need to visit a NICU.

After a quick labour of just over an hour Oscar came crashing into the world at Tunbridge Wells Hospital/ Pembury, within seconds of his arrival the room filled with medical staff and I sat and watched as they tried to revive my newborn baby.

Not knowing what was wrong without additional tests they decided that the best option for survival would be to intubate him and transfer him to Medway Hospital, a higher level of neonatal care than Pembury was able to provide.

After the longest 2 hours we received a call from the Oliver Fisher Unit to say that Oscar had survived the journey.

I’ll never forget walking into that unit for the first time; Oscar was in the first incubator by the door, I remember walking in and running straight back out, panicked, scared, full of hormones and emotions. Oscar was the only full term baby on the unit, the rest were tiny premature little ones and their parents were amazing and gave such reassurance as they had been on the unit for such a long time.

Although scary, the ward had a strange sense of calm and the doctors and nurses were kind and compassionate and nothing was too much to ask.

I’ll never forget being called into a room and being told he was as sick as he could be and we were told to sit with him as they didn’t think he would survive the night, the unit made provisions for us to stay the night so that we could pop in and out and visit him whenever we wanted.

The next day we were told Oscar was born HIE level 3 and had sepsis and multiple organ failure. Doctors had wrapped him in a cooling suit to reduce the bodies temperature to prevent it from damaging his brain. The next few days were a blur, we spent hours sat with him and travelling to and from the hospital and nurses would phone with updates at all hours (when we had to be at home with our other children and couldn’t be with him).

We spent just over 2 weeks on the unit; we made friends with other parents and after a couple of days it wasn’t so scary, you got used to the noises (and realised that not every beep means something bad), doctors were honest but compassionate and nothing was too much for the medical or support staff.

Not only did they save his life medically, but emotionally and mentally they helped me through my most difficult time.

5 years on and thank you really isn’t enough, they saved our son and we owe them the world. Apart from a few medical issues and developmental delays Oscar is doing amazingly and he literally wouldn’t be here without the team at Oliver Fisher.

The unit relies on donations to help them operate in the way they do, they go above and beyond to provide home comforts, books and gifts for the babies and siblings; as well as having to raise funds for the vital equipment needed.

Seb is completing the Paddock Wood half marathon and we would really appreciate it if you could spare a few pennies to help us help this organisation stay wonderful

Love Nat, Seb and Oscar