mummiez & daddiez magazine March/April

As he heard the ambulances tires screech he now had to
come and comfort me, knowing we probably will never
see our baby boy alive. It was then that I fell apart. I was
hysterical. I kept screaming “I don’t want my baby to die.
He can't die.” Daniel was by my side. I looked him in the
eyes and cried. What if he died, what if he's dead. What
will we do I'll never forget his face. He was white and
just helpless to know what to do.....Broken. It felt like a
lifetime, but finally 5 minutes later the call came through
20 minutes after Freddy was delivered. “He's breathing,
he has colour.” The relief was more than incredibly
overwhelming. I can’t even describe it in words. We
were totally shell shocked. The pure horror of what just
happened did not truly sink in until we were at the
hospital hearing the consultant’s voice.....Back to reality.
“We want to try something. It’s fairly new out of research
and we will have to transfer Freddy right away to Oxford.
He will receive the cooling technique” Here comes the
technical part - What is the cooling Technique? An infant
who does not have sufficient oxygen for any significant
length of time at birth may develop
cerebral palsy, vision impairments,
hearing problems or learning
disabilities.
Traditionally very little could be
done after a baby had suffered
asphyxia, another term for oxygen
deprivation. Doctors would simply
“I touched his
little hand. It
was so cold.”
wait and hope for the best, as there was no known
treatment. Over the past few years, though, doctors have
realized the benefits of a new technique known as brain
cooling. (The cooling technique) With brain cooling,
doctors are able to reduce the likelihood and severity of
long-term impairments. To perform this technique, a
doctor uses a simple blanket or body wraps that are
chilled with tubes of cold water. This cold blanket
reduces the baby's core temperature from 98 degrees to 91
degrees over a period of 72 hours, mild hypothermic state.
Baby also has probes into the scalp to monitor brain
waves and is often sedated and receives morphine to
lower discomfort. By lowering the body's core
temperature, the cooling blanket reduces the swelling
around the brain and prevents the body from attempting
reparative actions that might ultimately cause greater
damage. It slows the organs and helps give a newborn the
chance to heal and recover from the shock of their trauma.
The cooling must begin within six hours of delivery to be
affective. So Freddy was transferred to begin his 72 hour
cooling treatment in Oxford. I looked upon Rows of
incubators. There he was, underneath the wires, tubes,
and beside the giant machines there he was, fighting.
He looked so small. Every natural motherly instinct is
tested. The incredible wave of protection I felt for him. I
wanted to pick him up into the safety of my arms. Onto
my warm skin I wanted to kiss his cheeks and nose and
those never ending lashes. The longing was immense.
Almost uncontrollable it made my chest hurt. The tears
flowed. The hopeless, frustrated, heart wrenching feeling
of the longing! I watched as strangers changed his nappy,
pumped food into his mouth tube and studied graphs
constantly printed from the big machine beside him. So
many sounds are in the NICU all trying to overtake each
other, they seem to get louder. I touched his little hand. It
was so cold. He shivered and made little whimpers that
broke my heart into a million pieces every time I heard
them. A Newborn baby should be wrapped in blankets,
snuggled with a cute bonnie hat, face all squished up and
content. My baby was laid naked, just a nappy on and a
cold water blanket. It felt unnatural for me. His mummy
who had kept him warm, for 9 long months watching him
so fragile on the edge of life itself. So, so cold. 3 days of
the longing, of the cold. Daniel and I stood by him and
held his precious hand. The support we received from
family and friends was truly inspiring. This made us
strong and we remained positive throughout Freddy's
cooling. Finally on Christmas Eve 2011, after 72 hours
kept cold our baby was being very slowly warmed.
Everybody waited anxiously for the
news. That day was full of so many
different emotions. What ever happened
we would be there for him. Love him
unconditionally our everything! Then a
miracle happened. Freddy was Healthy.
No signs of any brain damage! “This
never happens after such severe