FAMILY OF MIRACLE BABY SAY CHARITY SUPPORT WAS VITAL
WHEN Margaret Kelly was 27 weeks pregnant with her first child earlier this year she was transferred from Sligo to Holles Street Hospital due to medical concerns.
Her baby boy Mark was then delivered 13 weeks early. He was born with a multitude of complications and spent the first three months of his life in hospital. As Margaret and her husband Gerard from Easkey say: “It was touch and go for weeks. We had to just take each day as it came.”
It was not until the May Bank Holiday weekend that the couple got to take baby Mark home to West Sligo.
At first while he was in hospital Margaret was staying in various bed and breakfasts ‘ living out of a suitcase.’
A social worker at Holles Street then put her in contact with Hugh’s House Charity which operates two houses providing short and long term cost free accommodation for parents forced to move to Dublin because of sick children in hospital. Margaret said once she moved in the situation she was dealing with got easier.
“It was unbelievable,” she explains, “It is hard to describe the stress of having your baby so early. You do not know if he is going to survive or not. So not having to worry about where I was going to stay every night and the costs involved and living out of bags was so welcome. It was such a relief to know that I had somewhere to stay for the duration.”
The other major benefit of staying in Hugh’s House was the company. Margaret says going back there was better than going home as the people sharing the house were each going through similar situations and were able to understand, empathise and offer emotional support.
“We had good days and bad days. I got to know the people in the house and became comfortable around them. They knew exactly what you were talking about. Other mums with premature babies could advise me and this was a huge help. It was more than a physical place to stay. I forged friendships there that will last a lifetime.”
First time Mum Margaret who worked as a childminder also praised the founder of the charity pharmacist Adi Stack - who lost a son at four months.
40-year-old Margaret has nothing but admiration and awe for the doctors and nurses who looked after Mark whom she describes as ‘miracle workers.’
She says: “Mark was an IVF baby. He was so wanted. We went through so many emotions after he was born. The journey has been frightening at times. He was smaller than a bag of sugar. His skin had not developed properly, he had a hole in his heart. He has had a long battle to survive but he is a fighter. He is doing great now. He is 8 pounds 7 ounces - he is five months old but he is like a newborn.”
Margaret remembers the first time she got to hold him - a week after he was born for ‘skin to skin.’
“It was the best feeling ever to feel him breathing. I still remember it like it was yesterday. I will never forget it, how precious he was,” she recalls.
“He is a strong little boy, getting stronger every day. He can nearly hold his head up now which is great to see,” she says.
I will never forget holding him for the first time in skin to skin and feeling his breath