Saxon's made it to the media!

Chances are, you’ve come across this post because of the various news articles on the net, printed papers or magazines. As you’ve been directed here, you’re probably more interested in photo’s of Saxon’s progress rather than wedding photography (which, by the way, I’m available for, ha!).

So basically, Saxon had to fight for his life since he was born, as soon as he was born, he was swept away from us and worked on with a team of doctors and nurses, he had to be resuscitated immediately. From there, he was put on the ventilator to help him breathe, and kept in an incubator to keep warm.

A good three hours later, we had the chance to meet him for the first time, waiting anxiously outside the ward, all we could hear was beeps from various machines. We were called into the room, the atmosphere was incredible, we could see lots of premature babies as we walked by, trying not to stare or look at others… as we walked around the corner, there he was, wires everywhere, and absolutely tiny. We could fit him into the palm of our hands easily, although we weren’t allowed to touch him at this point. We were staring in awe. It was time to go home and look after the other boys whilst my wife stayed in hospital, showing pictures of saxon to the boys and printing out hard copies for their wall was just so emotional. In bed alone, all I could do was stare at my photos and pray that he’d make it.

With childcare sorted, it was a trip to Singleton Hospital again, and this time, we were told that Saxon moved to CPAP, this machines reminds him to breathe, rather than make him breathe like the ventilator, he only managed a day on it, then it was back on the ventilator as he had NEC, at this point, he had to be Nil By Mouth for 10 days, he’d been on 0.5ml of EBM (expressed breast milk) every hour, and now, nothing at all 🙁

He’d been on the ventilator for ages, so we had to decide on what to do, as the ventilator was deteriorating his lungs, steroids was an option, but it had it’s complications, liver disease, bleeding from the bowels, the list goes on… Saxon’s Doctor advised, that if it was his son, he’d put him on steroids, that made our decision, if it was good enough for an experienced Doctor, it was good enough for us. Luckily, Saxon’s only side-effect was a bit of “roid-rage”!! he was all over his incubator, and he was only tiny!! We joked that he couldn’t wait to get out, and was trying to get out the door and crawl home, that’s how active he was, he had to be given something to calm him down in the end.

Anyway, to cut the very long story short, he eventually made it and was cleared of NEC, but around this time, we were also told he had a bleed from the left brain (apparently not uncommon in prem babies), his PDA valve was not closed (also not uncommon in prem babies). A week or so later, he was on CPAP advanced, then CPAP, good news, we though! YAY! Then suddenly, he had suspected NEC! ARGHHH! So Nil By Mouth again, and 10 days later he was OK. Around this time, he was also diagnosed with Sepsis, a blood disease. Saxon didn’t cope too well on CPAP, and was back on CPAP advanced, he was eventually weaned back to CPAP. Now he was on this for aaaaaaaaaaages, and as we was around 30 weeks, we were told he had to be transferred to Carmarthen, as that’s the hospital we signed him up for in the birth plan, our hearts sank, we knew the doctors and nurses, and friends with all the other mums and dads and new the progress of other babies, and we were told we had to leave!! We expressed out concerns, and was advised to write to our local MP, so whilst all this was happening,we wanted to try breastfeeding Saxon, the problem was, he was on CPAP, and the mask was on the way of trying to breastfeed, but he wasn’t ready to go onto Hi-Flow, although, as parents, we felt he was ready. So days later, we asked whilst it was Doctors rounds, and as Heidi asked, Saxon’s mouth went searching for Heidi’s breast! Go Saxon!! And that was that, Doctors advised to move him to Hi Flow that morning, result!! So thankful for Saxon’s fight in him!

OK, this is it, we thought, he can only get better from here, right?? So some time later, he was moved to the nursery unit, the last unit before he goes home!! I think around this time, he was approaching 3 months old, weighing around 5lbs. This unit, babies were bottle fed or breast fed, Saxon was bottle fed EBM, milk had to be defrosted, and then heated up, and there was only one bottle warmer/defroster available, so there was always a queue for the babies to be fed 🙁 There were also limited amount of breast pumps available, and as all mum’s know, when you need to express, you need to express! So for this reason, one of the dad’s set up a donation to the hospital, for more details, please visit http://www.justgiving.com/ships (event has finished) , thank’s to Chloe’s dad for setting it up!

So… it was almost his due date, 8th August 2013 (he was born 27th April 2013), and we were told to start buying prams etc ready, OOooooo the excitement! We’ve been waiting for this day for a long long time! Around his due date, he was ready to come home, we brought the pram in, heads held high, smiles beaming across our face, and also nervous as he was now on Low-Flow, and was coming home on oxygen. Got to the hospital passing staff on the way home telling them we were going home, and it was nice to have met them, and how thankful we are, had our CPR training, oxygen training, and also all the medication he was coming home on, pram by the side of his cot, and the doctors had to do one more discharge check before putting him in the pram, and BOOM! Doctor found a hernia in his groin, and although he can go home with it, he will be on a very long waiting list, and will only go in if his hernia got strangulated, and that’s not good. So if he was kept in hospital, then he’d be fast-tracked. Although it was the right decision, our hearts just sank, we had to go back to the car with an empty pram, and explain to our excited boys that Saxon wasn’t coming home, and you weren’t going to meet him for the first time 🙁

Saxon’s hospital was scheduled for Cardiff, and they only operated once per week on hernia’s for babies, we phoned every week to see if there was room, but emergency operations had to be carried out before him, so a month later, the good news came in! Yipeeeeeee!! Up to Cardiff we went, we phoned to check if siblings were allowed to visit, and they certainly were! So off to Cardiff we went, and we were one whole family together for the first time, since Saxon’s birth 4 months ago!! Emotional times.

Since coming home, Saxon has been weaned off his oxygen, and to this day, he is weighing in at a healthy 15lb 8oz, he has got to be the happiest baby I’ve ever met, he was teething the other day, crying like mad, but once you start playing with him, it’s all smiles, he seems to always find time to give us a gorgeous smile 🙂

We will be eternally grateful for all the staff at Singleton, they were Saxon’s guardian angels!! A big thanks to family and friends for all the encouraging words and support too.

If you’d like to keep track of Saxon’s progress, leave a comment via facebook below, or keep an eye out for photos by liking my page: www.facebook.com/photographyfirst