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One hundred days in hospital for new arrival

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Stacey Cameron was just 19 weeks pregnant with her sixth child when her waters broke.

That meant a long hospital stay until her baby girl came along, leaving five children with ages ranging from 21 to two at home.

“My husband and two older children, I don’t know what they did, but they sorted it out (running the household),” Ms Cameron said.

“I couldn’t believe it even if I saw it.”

Baby Teina entered the world via emergency c-section five weeks later at 25 weeks.

“The delivery was all good but obviously her lungs weren’t developed, she was quite underdeveloped, her skin was see through, you could see her heart pumping through her chest, but she didn’t need to be resuscitated,” Ms Cameron said.

Little Teina spent 100 days in John Hunter Children’s Hospital, before she was moved to Maitland Hospital for a few extra weeks.

It was a challenging time for Ms Cameron, who still gets emotional talking about the time she was separated from her baby.

“I’d wake up thinking of her and go to sleep thinking of her,” she said.

“It was hard to be away from her every day.”

Despite developing a virus, Teina’s first few months in the world were smooth sailing.

“She showed me how babies are just so strong and it’s unreal what they can do, and what the world can expose them to and how fast they can get rid of it, and fight it.”

After 100 days in hospital, Teina stole some hearts and, as a result, received a little extra TLC.

“My daughter was absolutely spoilt rotten by every single nurse that looked after her,” Ms Cameron said.

“Leaving her was hard but I felt comfortable knowing she was in great hands.

“When she was finally allowed to have cuddles, I’d walk in at 8.30 in the morning and the nurses would be checking on other babies, holding her.

“And the doctors, when they did rounds, they’d pick her up, they spoilt her with love up there and I appreciated every one of them.”

And, when Teina was ready, she was sent home, where she was welcomed with open arms by her five brothers and sisters.

“It was amazing to take her home, there was a lot of love and a lot of tears,” Ms Cameron said.

“Because the young ones never saw her, but only saw pictures, they’re very close to her and very good helpers.

“Her elder siblings, they’re fantastic and very protective, we barely go anywhere and they don’t bring anyone home because they don’t want her to get sick and there’s a lot of hand washing and sterilising.

“When she was in hospital the older siblings started teaching the younger ones how to wash their hands, that was really good so when she came home finally they were very cautious.

“My two-year-old does her hands before cuddles; it’s changed everyone’s perspective.”

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