Mum to take part in charity walk for Sheffield hospital which cared for her 'beautiful' premature twins

A mum who had her twins seven weeks premature is taking part in a charity fundraiser to thank the hospital team who cared for them.
Pictured are daddy (Paul), Luca, mummy and Molly. The twins are seven-months-old.Pictured are daddy (Paul), Luca, mummy and Molly. The twins are seven-months-old.
Pictured are daddy (Paul), Luca, mummy and Molly. The twins are seven-months-old.

Laura Hussey, aged 30, who gave birth to her son and daughter after they made a surprise entrance into the world seven weeks premature, will be taking part in Jessop Superheroes on to raise vital funds for the Jessop Wing where they were born.

The twins, Luca Ralph Har, who was 3lb 13oz at birth, and Molly Ada Heart, who was 4lb 10oz at birth, were born by C-section less than a minute apart from each other on August 4 last year and taken straight to Jessops Neonatal Unit.

Pictured are daddy (Paul), Luca, mummy and Molly. The twins are five-days-old.Pictured are daddy (Paul), Luca, mummy and Molly. The twins are five-days-old.
Pictured are daddy (Paul), Luca, mummy and Molly. The twins are five-days-old.
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Laura said: “When I went into labour I just kept remembering everything I had seen on all the baby development apps saying things like ‘if your baby were to be born today it would stand a good chance of survival.

“Luca had to have six hours of CPAP oxygen when he was first taken into intensive care but after that he was mainly there for ‘feeding and growing’ – which he has done very quickly ever since.

“Molly needed quite a lot of support and was ventilated to begin with before her breathing support was finally removed when she was 11-days-old.

“After things had settled down I received so much support from the nurses and feeding team in getting started expressing milk, which was then used to feed the babies through their tubes. This then progressed into support transitioning the babies away from the tubes and onto feeding from me.

Luca is pictured at three-days-old.Luca is pictured at three-days-old.
Luca is pictured at three-days-old.
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“The neonatal nurses taught us how to care for our babies in their new environment. They helped us to bath the babies for the first time and provided endless support with my many questions.

“Many of the nurses and healthcare assistants became like friends over those few weeks as we spent most of our waking hours sitting with the babies and chatting to the staff.

“The extra facilities available to parents were great too; it really is a special place full of very special people and babies.”

Jessops Superheroes, sponsored by Dutton Recruitment, is a 2.5k family walk on June 9, at Graves Park at 10.30am, where people are encouraged to dress like thier favourite superheroes.

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Laura’s preganncy problems arose in the first trimester, when she developed extreme morning sickness.

This caused her to lose over a stone in weight and be signed off work. She then developed obstetric cholestasis – a liver condition which causes the bile and acid levels to build up in your body.

The main affect for Laura was what she described as ‘unbelievable itchin’ which resulted in weekly blood tests to monitor her liver function and traces to monitor the twin’s heart rates. 

Laura said: “As long as I could feel the babies moving I wasn’t too panicked, and we were reassured hearing their heartbeats every week at Jessops but I think every pregnant woman will always worry until they have their baby (or babies) in their arms.

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“Paul, my partner said he was very concerned throughout the entire pregnancy but tried to focus on sorting everything else out around me so I didn’t have anything else to worry about.”

Laura went into labour unexpectedly at 33 weeks pregnant and was placed on zinc and magnesium drips to try and prepare the babies lungs and brains for an early arrival into the world.

Although the C-section went smoothly the twins were rushed to intensive care and Laura was not able to see her new born babies until eight hours later once she was able to walk again.

A few weeks later, however, after care from the team at Jessops, Laura and Paul were abke to take their babies home. 

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Laura said: “When we found out we were taking them home we were so unbelievably relieved, it was like we’d been released.

“As lovely as everyone had been we were ready to get our babies home and start a normal life together.  

“Both twins are doing really well now. They are nearly nine-months- old and bringing all the joys that any baby would who is teething.

 “They’re great fun, laughing and smiling  (most of  the time, and don’t seem to have any lasting effects.

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“Life has changed completely but I feel incredibly lucky to have such beautiful, happy babies. Tiredness has taken on a whole new meaning but  I wouldn’t change it for the world.”

 You can donate to Laura at www.justgiving.com/fundraising/laura-hussey2. To register and become a superhero yourself visit www.sheffieldhospitalscharity.org.uk