Baby Aveline is an NCCU little Miracle

Baby Aveline is an NCCU little Miracle

For Chris and Katie, meeting their new little girl Aveline was an emotional and overwhelming time.

“When my daughter Aveline was born, she wasn’t breathing. Suddenly our birth suite went from a room full of joy at meeting our baby girl, to the overwhelming experience of having what felt like 20 people in the room,” Katie recalls.

While doctors’ prepped Katie for theatre after having her own medical emergency, Aveline took her first breathe and Katie was able to have one quick cuddle before her daughter stopped breathing again and she was rushed away, leaving Aveline in the hands of Mater Mothers’ Hospitals’ doctors and her husband Chris.

Aveline was born with a serious bacterial infection, which was further complicated by issues which caused her lungs to collapse within her first 24 hours of life.

When Katie woke up she was confronted with seeing her daughter with a breathing tube and hooked up to what seemed like every single wire and machine possible.

“When I came out of recovery and finally got to see my baby, what I saw is something that no mother should ever have to go through. It was confronting and heartbreaking to say the least.”

“But I now know that without those machines and the incredible team at Mater’s Neonatal Critical Care Unit (NCCU), my baby wouldn’t be here today.”

“Aveline spent the first five weeks of her life in Mater’s NCCU, followed by another three weeks at the Redland Special Care Nursery, before we were finally able to bring her home,” Katie said.

Now a three and a half month old healthy and happy baby, Aveline is continuing to grow, but it hasn’t all been smooth sailing. Due to issues with her airways, breathing and ability to feed, she had throat surgery at three weeks old.

“Although the surgery greatly improved her ability to feed, Aveline came home with a feeding tube and we are now slowly working towards not needing that anymore,” Katie said.

“To say we are thankful for everything would be an understatement. The staff at Mater Mothers’ Hospitals’ are miracles workers. They are literally saving lives every day and working alongside families that are going through some of the hardest moments in their lives. Without their life-saving work, support and guidance we wouldn’t be where we are today,” Katie said.

Katie and Chris are now fundraising for Mater Little Miracles, and have so far raised more than $1000 to support the investment in life-saving research, care and equipment to give the best possible start to life for all babies born and cared for at Mater.

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For urgent assessment at any stage of your pregnancy, please present to your nearest emergency centre or Mater Mothers’ 24/7 Pregnancy Assessment Centre in South Brisbane.

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