Austin was born 11.52am on the 27/12/2017, 8 weeks early.
I was a premmie mum and it was a label I struggled with. I felt like my body failed me, I couldn’t protect him, I missed my bump, juggling all these feelings whist helplessly looking at my little man through the SCBU incubator.
I couldn’t hold him, I couldn’t feed him, my body was thrown into survival mode. It took everything to make my body work, produce milk and care for this little person that was so reliant on me. The midwives one after another telling me I needed to do this to keep him alive.
Day three my milk came in. I held him, he looked at me and held my finger and for the first time I felt like a mum. He needed me. I needed him.
4 weeks later we got to bring him home.
He’s almost 5 now and those memories are still there. Each year they fade. It took me a long time to like Christmas again.
He is our absolute world.
Austin Roscoe Gowin
***** Thanks so much for sharing *****
We get a lot of positive feedback from families in a neonatal unit who read these stories and feel strength, hope and positivity knowing that they are not alone going through these experiences and feeling certain emotions.
If you would like to discuss sharing the story of your neonatal journey, we’d love to hear from you. Please email info@littlemiraclestrust.org.nz
If you want to help our support of families going through the stress and anxiety of a neonatal journey, you can donate here.
- The Little Miracles Trust provides support to families of premature or sick full-term babies as they make their journey through Neonatal Intensive Care, the transition home, and onwards. We do not receive any Government funding and are entirely reliant on the generosity of individuals, companies and organisations in the form of donations, value-in-kind donations, grants, sponsorship and fundraising events to supplement operating costs and fund our services and initiatives.
- As we are a registered charity (CC56619) with Charities Services New Zealand we will send you an IRD compliant tax receipt – this will happen automatically by return email