To celebrate Aubrey’s 10th birthday, her mum, Briony shares her story.
Aubrey has overcome some many obstacles in her little life, the biggest one was right at the very start! She was born on 17th July 2013, and while a small 4lb 13, she seemed to be healthy. She passed all of her newborn checks, and we were taken to the ward to recover.
It wasn’t until Aubrey started vomiting highlighter-yellow vomit after each feed that we knew something was wrong. She was taken off for some more tests and before long, her dad and I were being taken round into a side ward where our brand-new baby was now in an incubator with what seemed like 100 wires poking out of her skin. We were told how gravely unwell Aubrey was, and that she needed to be transferred to St George’s, a specialist hospital we’d never heard of, to have life-saving surgery.
We arrived at St George’s at around 1am and met our surgeons, settled her into the HDU department and waited for her surgery the next morning. We were advised she would be in surgery for about 6 hours, and she came out fighting!
From the moment she was born, she was determined. She has shown more strength and courage in her 10 years than I’ve seen in some adults. Aubrey’s journey humbled me, it made me grateful for the experience and how precious life truly is. I took for granted that, because I was healthy i would naturally have a healthy baby.
There were some hurdles for us to overcome in Aubrey’s first year, she couldn’t gain weight and we had to evaluate how we fed her. But, she thrived and continues to thrive now.
When Aubrey was almost three, she welcomed her baby brother Noah and her journey into Big-Sisterhood began. She was instantly the most caring and kind big sister Noah could have wished for.
Aubrey’s life wouldn’t have happened if it wasn’t for the amazing team at St George’s, she would not be here today. Because of them, we have experienced 10 beautiful years of life, and I hope we have many, many more.
Aubrey’s first day of school felt such an accomplishment, and now we are looking at secondary placements for her to continue her journey.
I will never truly be able to express my gratitude for the surgeons, doctors, nurses and First Touch team who supported us through it all.
So, from one very grateful mummy, and a beautiful 10 year old Aubrey, thank you.
