“Amy-azing”, according to Urbandictionary.com is, “more than just amazing, and probably the most awesome person ever rolled into one word”. This is how I feel about my daughter Amy who was born in February 2016 15 weeks premature.
When Amy took her leap into the world on the leap year day, we were told it was going to be a long road ahead with months in hospital. I don’t think anything could have prepared us for what lay ahead. Weighing just 890g, we could never have imagined a baby so small and we were now immersed in a whole new scary world; the world of NICU; a place of both hope and probability.
Born kicking and very feisty, Amy really did keep the team in NICU on their toes from day 1 and was always full of surprises. After a long and rocky road of intubations, extubations, blood draws, blood transfusions, antibiotics, desats, bradys, bagging and much more; she was discharged at 5 weeks corrected following 143 days in hospital.
Now a very happy toddler, walking and talking, some say Amy is a miracle. I agree but know too that she is a beacon for modern medicine. We will be forever grateful she was born in today’s world and in the wonderful hands of the Neonatal Team at Rotunda NICU.”
Judy is a very special ambassador of the Rotunda Hospital and Foundation running the SSE Airtricity Marathon in 2017 raising over €5,000 for the NICU department, she also donated her prize fund of €1,000 awarded from SSE Airtricity for her inspiring story on #TwentyThousandStories.
Judy has set up the wonderful Baby Amyazing page she created to share Amy’s journey and to help other parents of premature babies through similar experiences, giving encouragement and guidance. You can follow the blog on Facebook, Instagram or Twitter