By Luke Voogt
Isabelle Morrow celebrated her first birthday on Tuesday after being born 14 weeks premature on Australia Day 2020 and a subsequent worldwide pandemic.
“It’s a relief that she’s come so far and that we could have everyone around her to say hello and congratulate her on surviving this year,” said dad Sam Morrow.
“We owe our daughter’s life to the [staff] at Geelong and Mercy [hospitals] and we cannot thank them enough.”
On January 23, 2020, Sam came home from work at Ford Broadmeadows after his pregnant wife Hayley began suffering stomach pains.
“We didn’t think there was anything to worry about,” Sam said.
“We called the midwife at 8.30pm because we noticed some irregularity with the pains.”
They went to University Hospital Geelong and were advised Hayley had a 20 per cent chance of giving birth in the next six weeks.
Sam went home and packed a bag for Hayley before she was transferred to Mercy Hospital for Women in Heidelberg about 1.30am.
After getting to bed about 2am, Sam travelled to Melbourne later that morning when Hayley called saying she was having contractions again.
Specialists subdued the contractions and told Sam that Isabelle had an 80 per cent chance of survival, but a 50 per cent chance of developing health problems if born soon.
“Hayley didn’t want to know the numbers but I’m a stats and numbers guy, being an engineer,” Sam said.
Hayley’s water broke that night but she had no contractions until the morning of January 26.
Isabelle came into world at 1.15pm on Australia Day, weighing just 820 grams.
“We didn’t really have time to process it,” Sam said.
Isabelle seemed to be doing well despite her fragile state.
“We had faith in the doctors and that she was in the best place she could be,” Sam said.
“Those guys are true heroes; it’s an incredibly tough job. [They] do so much more than just care for the little ones.
“They provide crucial emotional support and remain friendly and supportive despite working day after day in a high-stress environment.”
Sam and Hayley transferred to University Hospital Geelong on March 13 with their newborn girl just as COVID-19 hit Australia and hospitals began introducing restrictions.
When they eventually returned home they took special care to protect their immunocompromised daughter.
“We started getting home deliveries and we only left for essential things,” Sam said.
“It’s been a bit of a blessing in disguise with COVID-19 because I was able to work from home.”
Isabelle turned out to be a “dream child”.
“We put her down at night and she just goes to sleep,” Sam said.
“She’ll grumble a little but she very rarely cries.
“She’s been hitting her developmental milestones and packing on weight ever since she was born.”
Sam admitted to mixed feelings about his daughter’s birthday coinciding with the national holiday.
“I like the idea of her having a public holiday for her birthday every year. But I prefer not to associate it with Australia Day so much because of the public sentiment currently around the day.”
