My Birth Story – Magnus
My name is Katherine Halkett. I was born in Venezuela and married my husband, a Kiwi from Timaru. After almost five years of infertility, in 2022 we received the call from Fertility Associates that we had reached the top of the IVF list. We were overjoyed, and even more so when our very first transfer was successful.
The pregnancy felt magical. Everything was perfect, from my health to my weight, every check-up and every ultrasound. It felt like a dream come true after such a long wait.
At 30 weeks everything changed. One night in the shower I had a nosebleed that would not stop, and when we checked my blood pressure it was 140/90. The next morning my midwife instructed me to go to hospital. Blood tests revealed I had developed preeclampsia very quickly.
The amazing team at Timaru Hospital arranged for me to be transferred to another hospital in case my baby needed to be delivered. Christchurch was full so we were sent to Dunedin. After a day of monitoring the team decided it was safer to deliver by C-section while both baby and I were still stable. That decision made all the difference for the outcome of our story.
At 30 weeks baby Magnus was born weighing just 1.55 kg. It was traumatic not being able to hold him. He was shown to me briefly from a distance, wrapped in a plastic bag to keep him warm, before being taken straight to the NICU. I did not see him again until nine hours later once I was stable.
Our days in the Dunedin NICU were filled with tears, fear, and overwhelming love. The doctors and nurses were wonderful, caring not only for Magnus but also for me. And then there was the team from the Little Miracles Trust. They gifted us a bag of goodies, and Shelley became my angel.
She brought me treats, filled my water bottle, and sat with me while I cried. Her kindness and presence made such a difference during some of the hardest moments of my life. I will never be able to repay the incredible support I received.
After four weeks in Dunedin Magnus and I were flown back to Timaru to finish our hospital stay. Three weeks later, at 37 weeks, we finally brought him home.
We will always carry with us the care, compassion, and love shown to us during our neonatal journey. The Little Miracles Trust will forever hold a special place in our hearts.
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.
Support Us
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.