Hannah and James' fundraiser for Ickle Pickles
Hannah Glossop
My Story
Hannah and James will be attempting a triathlon on Sunday 11th August. 8 months into parenthood, we are completely out of shape (both bikes needed a lot of TLC after no use whatsoever and James has a genuine fear of drowning after no proper swimming for at least a year) but the motivation of raising money for such an important charity is helping us to get through the training. We are fundraising for The Ickle Pickles Children’s Charity, who partner with hospitals and raise money for the intensive care equipment that helps to keep sick and premature babies alive. Any money raised will go specifically to Whipps Cross Special Care Baby Unit (SCBU), where Fred spent 3 weeks of his life after being born 8 weeks early. We have shared some of Fred’s story below, in the hope that we can spread more awareness of the phenomenal work that goes into helping sick and premature babies to have the best possible start to their life.
Fred’s story….
At 32 weeks and 3 days of pregnancy, Hannah’s waters unexpectedly broke in the early hours of the morning. We went straight to UCL Hospital and were given lots of drugs to boost Fred’s lung and brain development. Fred was born by emergency c-section later that evening, weighing just 3 pounds 13. He was whisked away by a wonderful team who gave him all the support he needed, including a surfactant lung procedure; oxygen support via a CPAP ventilator; antibiotics and the insertion of various wires and tubes; before getting him settled into an incubator.
Thanks to the wonderful NHS, Fred made amazing progress - within a few days his oxygen support was downgraded to vapotherm support. At 6 days old, he was well enough to move to our local hospital (Whipps Cross) via hospital transport. At 7 days old and fully settled into his second hospital home, he came off all oxygen support and was supported to breastfeed for the first time.
After overcoming a few more hurdles, Fred was ready to be moved off his ward into a family room by day 29. All his tubes and wires were removed and we spent our first night together as a family. Fred finally came home at 30 days old, still 3 weeks before his original due date.
On top of the amazing care that Fred received at Whipps Cross, wonderful support for parents allowed us to be with Fred all day and leave him each evening knowing he was in the best hands. This included a reclining chair where Hannah could sit comfortably by Fred's incubator during c-section recovery; a well-stocked family room where James could work from each day; breast pumps; a phone line that we could call through the night to check on Fred and so much more. We will never forget the amazing support we received in Fred’s first month of life and hope our fundraising helps more families to get equally great care for their sick and premature babies.
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Target
£1,200
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Raised so far
£1,505
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Number of donors
47
My Story
Hannah and James will be attempting a triathlon on Sunday 11th August. 8 months into parenthood, we are completely out of shape (both bikes needed a lot of TLC after no use whatsoever and James has a genuine fear of drowning after no proper swimming for at least a year) but the motivation of raising money for such an important charity is helping us to get through the training. We are fundraising for The Ickle Pickles Children’s Charity, who partner with hospitals and raise money for the intensive care equipment that helps to keep sick and premature babies alive. Any money raised will go specifically to Whipps Cross Special Care Baby Unit (SCBU), where Fred spent 3 weeks of his life after being born 8 weeks early. We have shared some of Fred’s story below, in the hope that we can spread more awareness of the phenomenal work that goes into helping sick and premature babies to have the best possible start to their life.
Fred’s story….
At 32 weeks and 3 days of pregnancy, Hannah’s waters unexpectedly broke in the early hours of the morning. We went straight to UCL Hospital and were given lots of drugs to boost Fred’s lung and brain development. Fred was born by emergency c-section later that evening, weighing just 3 pounds 13. He was whisked away by a wonderful team who gave him all the support he needed, including a surfactant lung procedure; oxygen support via a CPAP ventilator; antibiotics and the insertion of various wires and tubes; before getting him settled into an incubator.
Thanks to the wonderful NHS, Fred made amazing progress - within a few days his oxygen support was downgraded to vapotherm support. At 6 days old, he was well enough to move to our local hospital (Whipps Cross) via hospital transport. At 7 days old and fully settled into his second hospital home, he came off all oxygen support and was supported to breastfeed for the first time.
After overcoming a few more hurdles, Fred was ready to be moved off his ward into a family room by day 29. All his tubes and wires were removed and we spent our first night together as a family. Fred finally came home at 30 days old, still 3 weeks before his original due date.
On top of the amazing care that Fred received at Whipps Cross, wonderful support for parents allowed us to be with Fred all day and leave him each evening knowing he was in the best hands. This included a reclining chair where Hannah could sit comfortably by Fred's incubator during c-section recovery; a well-stocked family room where James could work from each day; breast pumps; a phone line that we could call through the night to check on Fred and so much more. We will never forget the amazing support we received in Fred’s first month of life and hope our fundraising helps more families to get equally great care for their sick and premature babies.
