Justin Nairns’ Story

It all started in October 2009, I fell pregnant in the April of this year and therefore my baby was due on 24th Dec.

I was feeling very unwell all the way through my pregnancy but on the 14th October I felt even worse and knew that something wasn’t right, I went into Durham Hospital and to my surprise was told that I had very severe pre- eclamspia and that I would need to deliver my baby possibly with in the next 48 hours but they would try and delay this knowing my baby would be very premature. Within a few hours of being at the hospital my condition got worse and worse and the last thing I remember was my arm twitching and then I woke up and was told I had a baby boy, apparently I had an eclamptic fit and then they had to perform an emergency C-section. My baby boy Justin Nairns was born weighing just 960g (2lb 2oz) and was immediately transferred to the RVI Special Care Baby Unit (Ward 35) which, is supported by the Tiny Lives charity.

I was still at Durham hospital as I wasn’t well enough to travel so didn’t see him for 5 days, Justin’s dad came to see both of us on a daily basis and kept telling me how he was doing and bringing me photos of him. When I was well enough I was transferred to the Maternity Unit at the RVI and saw my baby for the first time. It was so upsetting to see how small and frail he was and I automatically thought that he wouldn’t make it due to how tiny he was….I didn’t think it would be possible for a baby so small and covered in so many tubes and wires to survive. The staff on the ward were so supportive and assured me that he was actually doing quite well, I also got great comfort from reading about other people’s story’s on the wall as this made me realise that it hasn’t just happened to me and other people with even smaller babies than Justin have came through this, this gave me and the rest of Justin’s family hope.

Justin was on a ventilator for the first couple of days of his life and then they took him off the ventilator and put him on a breathing aid called a CPAP, he was only on this for a few days as well and then he was able to breath on his own. He also had a drip with nutrients in and everything that he would need to grow and had a feeding tube as obviously he was unable to bottle feed. When I was discharged from the Maternity Ward we came to visit Justin every day and we were able to get involved with his cares, such as washing him and changing his nappy. Tiny Lives helped us massively as we were given a free parking pass and also petrol money to help us financially, also the equipment and the staff that they fund are amazing, really supportive and friendly and they have lifesaving equipment which the majority of hospitals don’t have.

As soon as Justin was well enough he was transferred back to Durham Hospital where he was born and we eventually got to take him home for good on 02/01/10, which was a couple of weeks after his original due date, he did get discharged earlier than this but we had to keep going back in as Justin had feeding difficulties that we couldn’t manage at home. He was unable to take his bottle and breathe at the same time so he kept going pale and floppy when we were feeding him. He also suffered from RSV, a lung infection, which has caused him to have a wheezy chest every now and again and he normally picks up most bugs and colds that are going around but apart from that Justin is now a healthy boy.

I’ve included some pictures of Justin, the first one is from when he was first born, the difference is unbelievable.

Thank you very much.

Justin’s family chose to raise money for Tiny Lives

“We are all so grateful for the work and dedication of the Special Care Baby Unit and the Tiny Lives charity as without their help we wouldn’t have our beautiful happy little boy. We try to raise money for Tiny Lives as often as we can. I think it is very important for people to realise how important Tiny Lives is, as it is saving tiny babies lives and giving them the opportunity to go on a have a good, happy, normal life. We can’t thank them enough.”