Vicki Cockerill - NICU MUM Blog

Eighteen months have passed since our beautiful little miracle emerged (I say emerged because 'vigorously ripped out' doesn't have the same ring to it). The rollercoaster of the past year and a half has somewhat levelled off, and things have become almost normal. Now feels as good a time as any, for me to confess (to HONESTLY confess) what it's like to give birth, become a mother, and cope with the joys of reflux, teething, milestones and TODDLERDOM! And how having an NICU baby with a heart defect makes these things all the more stressful. Oh, and there's also my increasing fear that Elijah is Damien from the Omen, with his endless antagonising of our cats. I will save the nine glorious months of swollen feet, constipation, and eating chocolate on the sofa, like a whale (whilst watching RHOBH in my pants) for another time. This is the story of how Elijah was born. To be honest, after watching numerous programmes on TV, they make it look like, once your 

My name is Vicki Moore, and I am the mother of a little human called Elijah, who was co-created by my husband-to-be Greg. Elijah was born in September 2014, but the journey of Motherhood did not start smoothly. He was admitted to the Neo Natal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) twelve hours after birth, and was there for nine days, eventually being diagnosed with a serious heart defect called ‘Tetralogy Of Fallot’. He later required open-heart surgery at just six months old. Fortunately, Elijah is now a typical little toddler, creating all sorts of chaos wherever he goes. However, it is only now, after eighteen months, and a diagnosis of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, that I feel I can begin to talk about what it’s really like to have a baby in NICU, and to watch them go through surgery, and recover. It is my hope that this blog will help others in the same boat, and I’m looking forward to relating to all you other mums, and sharing all our different stories and experiences together. This is