By Casey Neill
It was three days after Annabella’s birth that mum Emily Looker Salmon finally got to hold the newborn in her arms.
The Dandenong 21-year-old knew something was going wrong with her pregnancy when her baby’s movement dropped, but it wasn’t until excruciating pain set in a few days later that doctors decided to deliver at 29 weeks.
Annabella entered the world via emergency Caesarean at Dandenong Hospital on Tuesday 2 August last year.
Doctors assess each baby one minute and five minutes after birth and record what’s known as an APGAR score based on five key signs. A score of seven or above is normal.
“She was a two,” Emily said.
Annabella was rushed to the Royal Children’s Hospital.
“When we found out to the Royal Children’s I could actually relax,” dad Daniel Lish said.
Emily said she didn’t quite understand what was happening to her baby.
“But when we got to the Children’s Hospital they explained it to me like 300 times so it became easier to understand what was going on,” she said.
Emily and Daniel praised paediatrician Kevin Wheeler, who they still take Annabella to for check-ups.
“He would meet with me every Wednesday to explain what was going on,” Emily said.
“We were in the Children’s Hospital for 12 weeks because she didn’t leave until she was term.”
Annabella underwent dozens of tests and treatments during that time, and still requires oxygen due to scarring on her lungs.
Emily recalled walking into Annabella’s room to find the hospital’s head doctor cuddling and comforting the infant, and spending her 21st birthday there.
“The nurses took a print of her hands and feet and they made me a really cute present from Annabella, with a poem,” she said.
Emily donated any coins she could get her hands on to the Good Friday Appeal when she was a child.
“Every year mum and I always watch,” she said.
“When I was a kid I used to love it because they had the Wiggles and things on there.
“Now I love it because of the stories.
“I never thought that we’d go there, that we’d experience it.
“It was absolutely amazing, I loved it.”
Visit goodfridayappeal.com.au to support equipment, research and education.
Visit www.gofundme.com/breathing-mat-for-annabella to support Emily and Daniel in their quest to buy a breathing monitor for Annabella.
