An Unexpected Start: Malachi’s Story
September 2024 we found out we were being blessed with our rainbow baby. It came as a complete shock as we were starting testing getting ready to head down the road of IVF but had decided to wait until the New Year to continue.
During my pregnancy I was admitted to hospital on multiple occasions for Gallstones. After a lot of talks with my midwife and obstetrician we decided the best option would be to induce at 39+1weeks.
Our wee boy Malachi made his grand entrance on Saturday 31st May 2025 weighing 2.82kgs. He wasn’t breathing at birth, there were no signs during our induction or labour that something like this would happen and it came as a complete shock. Our baby was taken round to SCBU to wait for the Life Flight helicopter to take him to Wellington NICU as he needed to be placed on a cooling mat and cared for as he also required a chest drain for a pneumothorax.
The cooling process is started to preserve all brain function after a loss of oxygen event for 72 hours before they slowly begin warming baby back to normal body temp. The following day our boy had 2 seizures and had to have a second chest drain placed to help drain the pneumothorax.
A MRI was required to see if there was any brain damage from the lack of oxygen at birth. The results showed a change to his motor function skills portion of the left hand side of his brain. They were unsure of what this change was but one thing they did know was that our boy was now at low risk for having a low form of cerebral palsy.
After what felt like a very long 15 days we were discharged from hospital to begin our new life at home. We had to wait until he was 3 months before we were able to have the Neuro Development Therapists complete their tests which have now cleared him of any signs of cerebral palsy. Another test will be conducted at 6 months and we will continue to have monthly visits with the Neuro Development Therapists until he is 1 and a follow up MRI when he is 18 months.
Now at 5 and a half months you would not be able to tell what our little Malachi has been through to get here. He is the happiest little man and is hitting all of his milestones.
We are forever grateful for the support we received from NICU staff, Ronald McDonald House and The Little Miracles Trust while we were away from home. They have all helped us navigate a situation you would never think you would find yourself in.
Thanks so much for sharing your personal story!
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.
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If you want to help our support of families going through the stress and anxiety of a neonatal journey, you can donate via the link below.
- 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.