\u201cI went into premature labour in New Plymouth, and then I was helicoptered down to Wellington Hospital,\u201d Sarten, 41, tells the NZ Herald.<\/p>\n
Three days later, Emily was born. The labour itself went smoothly, but Sarten and her husband knew it wouldn\u2019t be an easy start for their daughter, being born 16 weeks before her due date.<\/p>\n
\u201cBefore I had gone into labour, I\u2019d been able to speak to a paediatrician who had given us an idea of what life might be like if she did arrive [early] – so it was quite helpful having some of that knowledge on board to know what to expect, not that anything can prepare you for that.\u201d<\/p>\n
Emily was ventilated and went into a high dependency room within the NICU, where she would spend the first three and a half months of her life, before spending another month at Taranaki Base Hospital.<\/p>\n
She would face a number of challenges along the way, including a \u201csignificant\u201d brain bleed, Staph aureus and Group B strep. <\/p>\n
\u201cThat was quite daunting,\u201d Sarten says. \u201cShe came pretty close to losing her fight.<\/p>\n
\u201cShe took quite a few steps back after that point, but she responded really well. Where she is now, she\u2019s amazing – as far as we\u2019re concerned there\u2019s been no long-term effects.\u201d<\/p>\n
Kristin Sarten’s daughter Emily spent months in the NICU in Wellington. Photo \/ Kristin Sarten<\/p>\n
Sarten didn\u2019t expect the NICU would become home for so long, describing the experience as a \u201chard slog\u201d at times.<\/p>\n
\u201cIn those first few weeks, there is so little change. It just feels like it goes on and on forever, and then suddenly they just start growing and getting better and there\u2019s lots of progress.\u201d<\/p>\n
One of the toughest parts of the journey was being apart from her husband and son, who was just two and a half at the time, though they visited on weekends.<\/p>\n
Sarten holds back tears as she remembers hearing that she and Emily would be helicoptered back to Taranaki Base Hospital.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was just so overwhelming… it\u2019s never confirmed 100% that you\u2019re going, if there were emergencies that the flight would need to tend to first. <\/p>\n
\u201cBasically, it\u2019s not until you\u2019re in the air that you actually know that you\u2019re on your way. It all happened very quickly. I was told in the morning and then by three o\u2019clock we were in the ambulance.\u201d<\/p>\n
As Sarten left the Wellington NICU with little Emily in a portable incubator, medical staff lined the hallway and clapped.<\/p>\n
\u201cBeing walked out of the unit, they had a guard of honour, doctors and nurses.\u201d<\/p>\n
Kristin Sarten’s daughter Emily got to come home after 130 days in hospital. Photo \/ Kristin Sarten<\/p>\n
What followed was a month of commuting to the hospital to feed Emily. At 130 days old, Sarten\u2019s little girl finally got to come home. Now, she\u2019s 23 months old, with a corrected age of 19 months – her chronological age minus how many months early she was born. <\/p>\n
She\u2019s walking – \u201cthe drunken kind of walk\u201d, her mum adds jokingly – and talking.<\/p>\n
\u201cShe\u2019s just a chatterbox. She\u2019s doing everything that a normal 19-month baby should be.\u201d<\/p>\n
Sarten\u2019s advice to other parents of preterm babies is to take care of themselves as well as their little ones, as difficult as it may be when you\u2019re away from home.<\/p>\n
Support from neonatal charity Little Miracles Trust and Ronald McDonald House proved invaluable, providing practical help from meals to baby items.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s just one less thing you have to worry about.\u201d<\/p>\n
She also underwent counselling to help her process her experience.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s only once you\u2019re out the other end that you tend to look back and reflect a little bit more, and you realise that was actually really traumatic and that was really hard.<\/p>\n
\u201cEven though Emily\u2019s outcome has been really positive, others might not be so lucky. I think getting help that way can help process things a little bit because [when] you\u2019re in it, it\u2019s just one day after the other and you just try and get through.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u2018Trust your gut, fight for your baby\u2019<\/p>\n
Ella Shapland and her partner Reed, from Ashburton, welcomed their first child, Nova, at 27 weeks and 3 days gestation.<\/p>\n
Ahead of the birth, Shapland, 28, recalls that one morning she couldn\u2019t feel her baby moving and went in for a scan. <\/p>\n
\u201cEverything came back normal, and then they put me up to a monitor and they were testing our heart rates and then her heart rate kept dropping, and mine skyrocketed – so they just told me that she was going to be coming out,\u201d she tells the Herald.<\/p>\n
Just a few hours later, Nova was born via emergency C-section. She would spend the first 80 days of her life in the NICU at Christchurch Women\u2019s Hospital.<\/p>\n
Shapland describes that time as a \u201crollercoaster\u201d waiting for Nova to gain weight, but is thankful she didn\u2019t have to undergo any major procedures while there.<\/p>\n
Ella Shapland’s daughter Nova was born at 27 weeks. Photo \/ Ella Shapland<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was just hard being an hour away from my partner. He was at home Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, and then would come up for the weekend. Doing it on my own was pretty hard, but I made some really good friends in the NICU as well.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe doctors and nurses, and everyone in the NICU were fantastic.\u201d <\/p>\n
For Shapland, it was a time of uncertainty – from not knowing when they\u2019d be able to leave, to watching the babies in the unit progress differently.<\/p>\n
\u201cWatching other babies do things before Nova, or Nova would do something first and then the other babies – it\u2019s just trying to keep in your own wee bubble, but also trying to support everyone else there.\u201d<\/p>\n
In the NICU, Shapland befriended another mum from Ashburton whose baby girl was born the day after Nova, also at 27 weeks.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe were able to connect and catch up, we stayed next to each other in Ronald McDonald House, and we were always next to each other throughout NICU as well, which was quite cool. We got really close with them, because our babies were literally the same age and doing the same things.\u201d<\/p>\n
Nova is now 20 months old and a ‘fighter’, her mum, Ella Shapland, says. Photo \/ Ella Shapland<\/p>\n
Getting the all-clear to go home was \u201camazing\u201d, she says.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was pretty scary though, bringing her into the big wide world with all these germs. I was just so worried, because she was so early, about the consequences.<\/p>\n
\u201cBecause nothing really major happened in NICU, I was always waiting for it. Like, \u2018oh no, we\u2019re going to go to the supermarket, she\u2019s going to get something, get really sick\u2019. But it was amazing to be home.\u201d<\/p>\n
Now 21 months old, Nova is \u201ca fighter\u201d, her mum says.<\/p>\n
\u201cShe\u2019s amazing. She\u2019s doing everything a baby should, so you\u2019d never know she was a prem baby, other than she\u2019s little.\u201d<\/p>\n
Her advice to other NICU parents is to take it day by day and celebrate the \u201csmall wins\u201d.<\/p>\n
\u201cTrust your gut, fight for your baby, don\u2019t be afraid to ask questions, even if you think it\u2019s a dumb question.\u201d<\/p>\n
Life as a NICU nurse: \u2018Walking alongside wh\u0101nau through heartbreak\u2019<\/p>\n
It\u2019s tough for Kiwi parents of babies in the NICU – but it\u2019s also incredibly challenging for the nurses who care for them.<\/p>\n
Speaking to the Herald anonymously, nurses from the Neonatal Nurses College Aotearoa reveal what it\u2019s like working in a NICU in New Zealand<\/a>.<\/p>\n \u201cA day as a NICU nurse is fast-paced and also highly rewarding – meeting families and getting to know their baby,\u201d one nurse shares.<\/p>\n Another describes their typical day as \u201cBusy, overstimulating, rewarding, emotional – feels [like] more than a day\u2019s work\u201d. On a practical level, most days involve \u201cbloods, cares, emotional support, advocating for babies, going for scans, developmental care and parental support\u201d.<\/p>\n \u201cAnything from helping resuscitate babies straight after birth to helping a family get ready to take their new baby home – walking with families through lots of \u2018firsts\u2019 and different experiences,\u201d another adds.<\/p>\n It\u2019s a role that involves daily sacrifices.<\/p>\n \u201cTurning up, no matter what is going on in your personal life, receiving your patient load and giving your all, as best as possible, over and over – knowing even the smallest amount of negativity can [have an] impact,\u201d another shares.<\/p>\n It comes with its challenges – particularly when they are under-resourced, juggling multiple cases, and dealing with stressed parents and poor outcomes. Sometimes, palliative care is part of the job. Not every one of these babies gets to go home.<\/p>\n \u201c[The] toughest part is when things go wrong with a baby or the family they are going home to. It\u2019s also very rewarding walking alongside families through some of the toughest and most hopeful times of their lives,\u201d one says.<\/p>\n Nurses say it can be difficult to know how to prioritise care when each baby in the NICU has such complex needs.<\/p>\n \u201cWhen a baby is quickly deteriorating and needs many things all at once, you want to do the best you can – but it feels challenging morally and can leave you feeling very disappointed in your own abilities.\u201d<\/p>\n For one NICU nurse, the hardest part of the job is \u201cwalking alongside wh\u0101nau through heartbreak\u201d.<\/p>\n \u201cAnd the negative self-talk when you are worried you could do better.\u201d<\/p>\n Another describes the pain of witnessing parents\u2019 grief for their baby.<\/p>\n \u201cSeeing mum and dad crying can be very upsetting… nothing is more rewarding than getting big hugs from families in the hallway and a smile, knowing you made an impact.\u201d<\/p>\n For these nurses, the support of their coworkers gets them through each day.<\/p>\n \u201cI also love my working environment and all of my colleagues – we are in it together and can support each other through the lows and highs of the job.\u201d<\/p>\n Time in NICU leaves \u2018long tail of impact\u2019<\/p>\nNICU nurses working around New Zealand say it’s a tough but rewarding job. Photo \/ 123rf<\/p>\n