Freddie’s Story
World Prematurity Day is coming up on November 17th and the theme this year is ‘a strong start for a hopeful future’. At PKC, we are sharing stories from our community in the lead up including preemie babies, our wonderful knitters and supporters.
This is Freddie, born in July 2022, a month early. He spent the first 10 days of his life in NICU.
Freddie’s Mum, Ash, tells their family’s story
What does World Prematurity Day mean to you and your family?
Ash: World Prematurity Day is special to us since we had our son Freddie in July 2022, a month early. He spent the first 10 days of his life in NICU, a relatively short stay compared to many but still such an important part of his and our lives. The care and support we received was incredible, and world prematurity day is a chance to remember that and also reflect on how much life has happened since we left the hospital over 3 years ago now.
Did you receive any knitting and what are your memories of this?
Ash: We received a few beautiful blankets, singlets and jumpers during our NICU stay. This was so helpful as being early, we definitely didn’t have everything we needed for a winter baby sorted. We still have two of the knitted blankets and two lovely wool cardigans that we were able to take home with us, which we’ll keep in Freddie’s special things box. Our daughter Margot was born at almost 37 weeks but quite small for her gestation, and we actually reused the cardigans for her too!
Freddie & Ash modelling PKC merch 😻🧶
He’s also PKC Founder Courtney’s cute nephew!
What message would you like to share with other parents currently going through a NICU journey?
Ash: NICU is a tough place to be, whether it’s for a day, a week or months and months. To parents currently experiencing it, I’d say soak up as much learning as you can, embrace the support from the incredible nurses, midwives and lactation consultants, and get outside when you can! Also if you’re in Auckland Hospital, don’t forget to get your parking validated every day and try the dark afghans from the cafe downstairs :)
