Miracle mum Luarna shares Cody's story:

After already having two kids, my first being 2 weeks past due date & needing an induction and my second coming 2 weeks early but weighing in at 9lbs, I never expected to give birth so prematurely. On June 5th I started having slight pains after leaving my mother in laws house. Thankfully we don’t live too far from each other so by the time I got home I popped my daughter down for her nap & tried everything to ease the pains. Nothing helped, so I called my local labour ward and explained I would like to come in for an assessment. This phone call took place at 12:20pm & by 1:12pm Cody James was born weighing 1100 grams. I had no time to prepare for anything, physically or mentally. I had my 2-year-old daughter with me at the hospital while my son was at school & my partner away at work. Everything happened so fast, before I could even look at my baby he was getting whisked away & being transferred to KEMH’s NICU.

The first week of Cody’s life felt like we were constantly holding our breath. We found out on day 2 that Cody was born with 2 brain bleeds & extremely high infection levels. Every day seemed to feel like time was standing still but yet every day Cody got stronger. Week by week Cody was getting bigger, feeding more and hitting all the milestones but right as we were approaching that finish line, Cody got extremely unwell. Somehow, he caught Rhinovirus as well as another strain called Enterovirus. Things were looking scary. Cody was lethargic, almost nonresponsive, so puffy & swollen from his sodium levels dropping & so he was placed back into an incubator and placed into an isolation room where he would stay for 5 days. On day 3 of his isolation stay, the dr’s decided to do a lumbar puncture and that’s where it was discovered that on top of the other 2 viruses, He was also fighting viral meningitis. It felt like we had taken 20 steps back. He was now back on CPAP, TPN, & eventually high flow. Thankfully by day 5 he was coming around & becoming more and more himself. He started his feeds again & slowly but surely started hitting those milestones. The CPAP came off, then the high flow and again we started to see the finish line.

4 weeks later & a total of 101 days in hospital, our Cody came home where he could finally meet his big brother & sister.
Our NICU stay may be over, but Cody still has a long journey ahead of him. One of the bleeds he was born with didn’t dissolve but instead the brain tissue died & filled with fluid putting him at high risk of Cerebral Palsy.

Before Cody, I hadn’t known anyone personally to have gone through the journey of having a premature baby. Not having anyone to talk to leaves you feeling alone & unsure of what the future holds. Thankfully having organisations like Miracle Babies makes you feel less alone while going through this journey & shows you that miracles do happen, everyday.