Little fighter goes home
IT has been a long road for the family of a miracle baby who defied the odds and is now heading home for the first time.
Callen Schofield arrived at the Townsville University Hospital on May 7 this year where he was born via emergency caesarean section at 27 weeks. He weighed just 1.3kg and fit size 000000 baby clothes at the time of his rushed birth.
Medical staff did not have high hopes for Callen’s survival and told parents Jemma and Stephen to prepare for the worst.
“I was worried he was not going to make it and when he took his first breath, I watched the hospital team keep him alive,” Ms Schofield said.
“The doctors said the odds weren’t good but they would help him as much as they could as long as he kept fighting.”
Callen was born after Ms Schofield’s placenta ruptured, which triggered contractions.
The family called the Townsville University Hospital Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) home for 98 days before Callen was discharged six days ago.
The three-month-old is one of the 240 babies the hospital has taken care of in the NICU in the past 12 months.
This number is up from 197 babies in the 2017-18 financial year.
Ms Schofield said the family’s time at the NICU had been “flawless”.
“The nurses there are overly supportive and the moment you even you look like you need to talk about something, they will sit down and talk with you about it,” she said.
“Callen has quite the extended family of aunties and uncles of nurses and doctors now,” Ms Schofield said.
Callen now weighs a healthy 4.5kg with Ms Schofield saying she was thrilled to finally take her son home to meet his brother and sister.
“The doctors are really surprised with how well he has done, considering how critical he was,” Ms Schofield said. “It is nice to be back together as a family.”
During the time away, Mr and Ms Schofield were grateful to live at the Townsville Ronald Mcdonald House.