Two Years On: Remembering Harvey’s NICU Journey
As told by mum, Georgia.
We are now just over 2 years on from our NICU journey but still so thankful everyday – for every person who we met along the way from all of Harvey’s care team to my care team and every support person in between!
We had our first baby boy Harvey born premature at 29 weeks at 892 grams – in the very capable care of the Wellington NICU team.
We were in hospital for the 2 weeks prior to having Harvey after a routine midwife appointment I was raced up to our local hospital and diagnosed with Preeclampsia and Harvey’s blood flow Dopplers weren’t looking very good. We were flown to Wellington the next day because Harvey was showing to be under the weight that the Palmy neonate’s team was able to take on. We were having ultrasounds every 2nd day to confirm when our baby would be joining us!
We were in Wellington for the first 10 days of our NICU journey, Harvey was doing reasonably well all things considered at this point so the decision was made to send us back home to Palmerston North once he hit the 1kg mark. However, he got an infection on the way home and we were quickly transferred back to Wellington via the Westpac chopper! We stayed in Wellington from that point for the majority of our NICU journey with the continuous support also of Ronald McDonald house.
We were discharged from Palmerston North Hospital on our due date which we were thrilled about, and Harvey came home on oxygen for about 6 months full time and then a little longer overnight.
We already had a little connection with Justine and Anastasia at the Little Miracles Trust as they knew my Auntie who had been a part of the Little Miracles Trust team at the Auckland unit many years ago after my cousin was born at 24 weeks, so it felt even more comforting being able to talk to them and all the goodies they bought to us were extra special! Both of these women were so knowledgeable and kind-hearted and just a joy to be around in what can be such a stressful environment
Both Ronald McDonald house and the Little Miracles Trust were such a huge support system being away from home! Their kindness and care they both had for everyone coming through those doors was incredible.
Forever Grateful!
Georgia , Aidan and Harvey!
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.