A singer from Blackburn has spoken out about the heartbreak he has endured over the last few days after his baby was born premature.
Nathan Grisdale, who appeared on the X Factor in 2018, said his son Renan was rushed to the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) after being born weeks early.
Renan's mum,and Nathan’s fiancée, Hayley, also suffered from health issues throughout the pregnancy.
Nathan is now trying to raise funds for the East Lancashire Hospital Trust’s neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) for looking after his son, who was born on October 1.
The 28-year-old said: “We found out that Hayley was pregnant in March and since then it really has been a mix of emotions.
“Of course there have been some exciting and positive moments but we really did have complications right from the start which meant that a lot of our pregnancy was centred around worry and stress.”
At seven and 16 weeks into the pregnancy the couple had a ‘threatened miscarriage’, described by the NHS as an ongoing pregnancy with vaginal bleeding.
At their 12 week scan the couple were told there were abnormalities with Hayley’s uterus which could lead to pregnancy complications and impact Renan’s growth.
The couple was told to expect Renan to be born premature.
Nathan said: “When we were told Renan could be born premature we were worried.
“We became obsessed with dates and researching checking the survival rates associated with each week of pregnancy.
“We still did feel an element of shock when Hayley’s waters broke at 30 weeks [37 weeks is considered full-term]. She gave birth 12 days later.”
Renan was born via 3lb 5oz and he was immediately taken the NICU, after his heartrate dropped.
Nathan and Hayley were not able to hold or properly see their son for a week.
Nathan said: “Seeing him in NICU has been really hard - we know he is so well looked after but having to leave your baby is not at all how you imagine it to be, hearing the beeping noises coming from him when you visit and trying to process all the medical information is incredibly overwhelming.
“It was almost a week before we saw our boys face and were able to have a proper cuddle due to the ventilators, masks and other equipment he was hooked up to and that’s really hard as a new parent.”
Hayley, 26, was taken to theatre after her placenta became stuck.
Nathan said: “The midwife we had was truly amazing and really helped keep us calm and was so reassuring to Hayley.
“I think that was really hard- Hayley wanted me to go with Renan to NICU and her mum went into theatre with her, it was stressful.
“I was worrying about Hayley in theatre, while being completely overwhelmed and panicked about my boy who was having his tubes and wires fitted.
“Hayley had to wait for more than seven hours to regain the feeling in her legs to go and see him and I know that was very hard for her.”
Renan has fought off stomach infections and is trying to build up his tolerance of taking milk through his tube. He has also had issues with jaundice (yellowing of the skin) and his blood.
Despite this Nathan said Renan is recovering well.
He said: “He is being very well looked after and has managed to reduce his breathing support massively.
"We are so unbelievably proud of our boy and how hard he has fought since being born.”
Nathan said this has been one of the scariest experiences of his life.
He said: “I don’t think anything could quite compare to the feeling of seeing your tiny baby with so many wire and tubes and monitors and trying to make sense of it all.”
Nathan is now raising money for the ELHT&Me, a charity that aims to enhance patient and staff experience at East Lancashire Hospitals NHS Trust.
Money raised will be used to support the work of the NICU team at the trust.
Nathan said: “The staff are amazing and are so reassuring but you do always have the panic when you hear any kind of beeping.
“We are in awe of them each and every day. I couldn’t imagine working in such a stressful job, but you can see it is second nature to them.
“They are so caring and compassionate to both the parents and the babies of course. Our boy is doing well because of the amazing care he is receiving and we will be forever grateful.
“We want to raise money because we know there are other parents in our situation and some in even more difficult positions.
“The ELHT&Me charity is able to continue to offer parents like us access to items funded by the charity, such as equipment including incubator and ventilation, family stay over suites and behind-the-scenes resources that enable the dedicated NICU team to deliver exceptional care and that is so important.
“It really is a difficult period of time to go through, but knowing that your baby is getting the best care and that there is support there should you want it, could be the only thing that takes away one less worry.”
To make a donation visit Nathan's JustGiving page.
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