New mum Alex has a simple but special day planned for Mother’s Day.
‘We will come into the NICU first thing in the morning to spend the day with our daughter, Grace. There will be lots of cuddles,’ said Alex.
‘Sunday is a bath and weigh day. So, we’ll be able to weigh her and see how much she’s grown! She loves the bath.’
For Alex, this Mothers’ Day marks the end of a challenging fertility journey.
She and her husband, Dan, spent six years trying to conceive, undergoing 4 years of fertility treatment and IVF.
‘It’s just really nice to be able to celebrate Mother’s Day this year as a mum. The fertility journey is such a slog and Grace is the prize at the end of that.’
Grace was delivered via caesarean section at Monash Medical Centre at 26 weeks’ gestation after Alex developed pre-eclampsia.
Now in her sixteenth week in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) at Monash Children’s Hospital, Grace is doing great.
Dan is full of admiration for his wife as she settled into the role of being Grace’s mum.
‘Alex has worked really hard, in really difficult circumstances for a long time to become a mum. There’s been a lot of grief along the way,’ said Dan.
‘The NICU bump in the road was one we didn’t expect, and Alex has really taken it within her stride.’
The new parents are full of praise for the teams that have cared for them and their daughter.
‘The nurses here are absolutely incredible, the doctors and support staff too. We feel so supported and nurtured by them’, said Alex.
‘Everyone that we have met in this ward – Nest – has just been really lovely and knowledgeable and reassuring. I get the feeling that bedside manner is really championed at Monash Children’s Hospital, and at Monash Medical Centre.’
‘In the maternity ward, and now in the NICU, there’s been a lot of pretty hectic moments. But at no point during the process have we felt uninformed or unheard or unsupported. There’s just been a lot of care to make sure that we understand what’s happening,’ said Dan.
We wish Alex a very happy first Mother’s Day.
Today, we celebrate mothers everywhere, including those working tirelessly across our health service to care for others. We extend our thanks to the mums in our teams who balance their roles both at home and at work.
We also acknowledge that Mother’s Day can be a difficult time for many. For those who have experienced loss, faced struggles with conception, or are missing their mothers today, we hold you in our thoughts.