2 is a very special number to us.  We have 2 miracle babies who each weighed just 2lb when born x We wanted to make a difference to the unit that cared for them by raising funds for a brand new transport incubator. And with the help and generosity of friends and family WE DID IT!  Look at the fabulous total they helped us achieve - £51,707.20 in just 7 months!  Thank you.

Our fundraising is now finished as we busy ourselves with the twins, but we have left the page open.....because you never know!!..... If you would like to donate, you still can and your money will immediately go to Hull NICU's bank account. 

Our fundraising effort is dedicated to the skill, professionalism, love and care shown by every member of the amazing Hull NICU team.  Special people who give special care every day x   This is what we did.

Saturday 19 April - 18 mile Incubator Push:  Helen Davies, Kate Makin, Jo Nightingale, Hannah Kemp, Julie Brocklehurst, Lucy Pepper, Jill Smith,  Lynsey Fox, Claire Milner, Shileen Fowler, Heather Ritchie, Karli Petch, Ruth Smith

Saturday 10 May - Dinner Dance & Auction, Willerby Manor

14 June - 3 Peaks 24 hour Challenge: Jason Davies, Andy Makin, Paul Healey, Duncan O'Connor, John Brocklehurst, Mark Tarbottom, Andrew Abraham, Jason Milner

Tor Carver - 81 mile bike ride from Lincoln to York

Dave Galbraith - 168 mile bike ride coast to coast

Ian Pollard (Durham Ox Beverley)  - Edinburgh Marathon

Lee McGowan - Ripon Triathlon

Humber Landlords Association dedicated their annual dinner fundraising event

Kelvin Hall School did a non-uniform day

And here is why we did it.....

On 12 May 2013, our world and outlook on the world changed forever.  At just 29 weeks, Anya Elizabeth Rose and Xavier Andrew decided to join us and arrive 11 weeks early.  After a blue light dash to the hospital, the babies were delivered by emergency c-section.  Anya was born first weighing just 2lb 7oz and Xavi followed 6 minutes later weighing just 2lb 12oz.  

Our tiny miracles were whisked off to the Neo-natal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) where the team of specialists worked on them all day and night to stablise them, help establish breathing and give the necessary medication and ventilation.  At 10pm, Jason was finally able to visit where he saw them hooked up to several machines, covered in wires, tubes and canulas.  It was two days later before I was well enough to visit them and seeing them hooked up to all the equipment for the first time was utterly terrifying.

It was only weeks later that we realised how lucky we were on that day, that Hull Royal actually had two incubators available for Anya and Xavi otherwise they would have had to be transferred to other hospitals, anywhere across the region, and perhaps even be separated for a time.  This happened to several sets of twins during our time there.  This obviously puts huge strains on families, especially those where like in our case, Mummy has to spend time in hospital, therefore away from the baby, and where other small children are at home, needing to be looked after whilst Daddy clocks up the miles between hospitals on the motorway. 

After making it through the first two weeks we were able to start to feel the babies were out of immediate danger and would perhaps survive, but they both still had a long, long way to go before making it home. Initially they had almost hourly tests for a whole host of vitals and were on numerous forms of medication.

It is almost impossible to express the level of care our babies received whilst in NICU and it is most certainly impossible explain just how special the NICU team are.  It takes special people to work in special care - as well as understanding the medical challenges these babies face,  how to use and often fix the specialised equipment and dispense complicated medications, they show immeasurable love and care for the babies and go above and beyond to care for us parents and siblings.  We will never, ever forget the nurses and doctors and not simply for the way they cared for Anya and Xavi, but for the way they supported Jason, Zac and I through the whole experience.

After 67 days in NICU, almost 10 weeks, Anya and Xavi finally came home.  They were almost 5lb, still on nasal feeding tubes and very very tiny, but they were home with us and it was a day we will always cherish.  Our family was complete, and together at last. 

It doesn't bear thinking about any 'what ifs', but we remain thankful that on that particular day, Sunday 12 May, there were 2 incubators available in NICU to receive our babies and ensure that they could remain together and be cared for in our local hospital, close to our home and close to me whilst I was also recovering for the first two weeks. 

Which is why, as a family, we committed to raise funds to help Hull NICU raise vital funds for desperately needed transport incubator.  Not only is this incubator used to transfer new born premature babies from theatre and the delivery rooms to the intensive care unit, but it is also used to transfer babies to and from other units in other hospitals - a journey we were fortunate not to have to make.

Hull NICU's current transport incubator is currently only working and kept in service with scavanged parts, with an expected life span of barely 12 months. 

Saying "Thank You" to the NICU team will never seem enough and helping raise funds towards the £25,000 needed for a new transport incubator will not nearly demonstrate how grateful we are for what they did for Anya and Xavi and countless other babies born too soon, too small or too sick.  

But it's a start. And it's important.  And we thank you for your help.

With love to our special family and friends for their support.

Jason, Helen, Zac and of course, our miracle fighters, Anya and Xavi

xxxxx