Hobart Ronald McDonald House has supported Cressy couple Sarah and Ben Cawthen
Baby Abbie had a fight to survive after being born at 25 weeks. Her parents have spent the past six weeks in Hobart and said the stressful experience has been made bearable by the support of a brilliant organisation.
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CRESSY couple Sarah and Ben Cawthen say the stressful experience of having a premature baby has been made bearable by the support of Ronald McDonald House.
Mrs Cawthen, 29, said she had been enjoying an uneventful first pregnancy when her baby came early.
“Throughout my whole pregnancy for the six months I had absolutely no concerns and no worries,” she said.
When Mrs Cawthen started to show signs of early labour she was assessed at the Launceston General Hospital.
Things moved quickly and she was flown to Hobart by the Royal Flying Doctor Service.
Baby Abbie was born Royal Hobart Hospital on September 28 at just 25 weeks gestation.
She weighed just 825 grams on Day 1, but has since been able to put on weight to 1.5kg.
Mrs Cawthen said considering the circumstances, Abbie was born amazingly healthy.
However, she has since faced challenges including an infection and subsequent surgery.
“She’s been pretty good, acting like a normal premmie in the last few weeks, having a feed from a feeding tube and tolerating my milk,” she said.
Mrs Cawthen said she took inspiration each day from her little girl.
“I’ve had my challenges with my health also, but I just think about what she is going through and doing what she does, so then I need to stay strong as well,” she said.
“Abbie is amazing. Everything that gets thrown at her, she just keeps fighting and is determined to come out the other side. I just think, she really wants to come home.”
If Abbie continues to improve, she is expected to be released from hospital in February, meaning the Cawthens will have spent around four months in Hobart.
The financial burden would have been extraordinary if it had not been for Ronald McDonald House.
Hobart Ronald McDonald House has given Mrs Cawthen a place to return to for breaks, meals and sleep as she spends most of her hours at the RHH Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU).
Mrs Cawthen said when her husband was back in Cressy at work, the volunteers at the house made it feel like a home.
“They are very amazing people,” she said.
The Cawthens wanted to thank the team at Ronald McDonald House, in addition to staff at the Royal Hobart Hospital, in the lead up to McHappy Day.
It is not the family’s first brush with the organisation, as Mrs Cawthen’s twin sister, Kahla Hodkinson, also had a premature baby back in April 2021, and needed assistance. Baby Edison is now 2.
McHappy Day is the largest annual fundraiser for Ronald McDonald House Charities, which helps seriously ill and injured children and their families stay together while receiving medical care in a nearby hospital.
McHappy Day is on November 19.
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