Inspiration of Hope, Love and Life

Well I attended a first bday party of a little boy dear to my heart today.

His mum wont mind me sharing his name, so it was the first birthday of dear little Henry.

Id like to share a little of how we come to know Henry and his Parents Loren and Joe.

I remember it like it was only yesterday.

Sarah had been transferred to the RCH, she wasnt well. She had a ventilator breathing for her as her tiny body was beginning the fight to live. There she was all 700 odd grams of her fighting with every ounce of energy she had.

I was sitting in the parents retreat, a place where parents could sit down, sip a cup of coffee and take a break from all the monitors, tubes, Doctors and nurses, all the tests that were being done on our tiny babies and the general busyness of the ward.

So on the 1st of December here I was sitting on the couch, holding a pink teddy bear. I was sore, it was excruitiating to get up and down, to walk around and my heart was aching for my baby, for my babies at home, for Michael.

In walked this Mum, she looked alot more emotionally stronger than I did. One look at her and I could tell she had been here for a while.

Then she introduced herself. She said Hi Im Loren and we got talking. Relief came over me. I knew someone now. Someone to share this journey with. Our children were very similiar in ways. Henry was a little 28 weeker, he weighed just 740 grams at birth only 5 grams more than Sarah and he was due the 28th November - the day of Sarah's birth!

over the next few days we laughed, we cried, we shared our journeys and I learnt so much from Loren and Henry.

Hope - People often have said "you are so strong", "how do you keep going day after day" In one word it was hope and a lot of that hope came from Henry. Henry had came to the Childrens NICU at 7 weeks old, he had major lung problems. The team of miracle workers there operated at his bedside and they removed part of his lung in an operation which Loren was to learn after had never been preformed on a child before EVER. Not just in this hospital but it was the first operation on a child in the world. Here was her 1kg baby not even meant to be born yet making medical history. Henry had made it through his operation, Hope takes us such a long way.

Love - The love we have for our sick premmie babies is so hard to describe. We love them to the ends of this world but at the same time we are scared, we are scared of loving them too much incase we are going to loose them, we put up a brick wall and while every inch of our body wants to smash that wall down, part of us cant. The love Loren and Joe had for henry was just amazing.

Life - After 3 months on a ventilator I will never forget the look on Lorens face as she told me that henry was off the ventilator and onto CPAP. Henry was defying the odds, he was showing us all the definition of Life.

I think we all look to others for these quality's Hope, Love and Life. We look to others that have been there just before us, in an NICU environment its something that keeps us going, we look for the inspiration.

We had many a days were hope was gone, but Love and life was always there. Whether it was getting home to listen to messages from friends and family or it was sharing tears and happiness with my NICU angels, a card saying "congratulation on the arrival of your baby", or kissing my children goodnight and tucking them into bed each night. Life kept us going. We had others relying on us to love them and to keep life going on for them.


So Ill finish off by Saying

Happy Birthday little henry. In 12 months you have grown from 740 grams to becoming a member of the 7kg club, little mate that is 100 times your birth weight! You are a champ. Your mummy and daddy are two very special people to us. They are my inspiration. The hope that you all gave us cannot be expressed in words but know that you will always hold a special place in our hearts.

Henry you are a true Aussie Battler. In three words you are Hope, Love and Life!

May your second year of life be far less challenging, with no detours and roadblocks and full of sweet and happy memories.