oeet Christchurch’s smallest survivor. Born at just 26 weeks and weighing less than a bag of porridge, baby Erica Faith Wade has proved that she has the same fighting spirit as her mother, which kept her alive amid the chaos in the city.
Her mum, Selena Croft (31) was just over six months pregnant when the earthquake struck, and the stress of the huge event sending her into premature labour.
Although Selena was working in a safe part of the city – at the oovement Dance Centre in oiddleton where she teaches ballet and jazz dancing – learning the extent of the damage and trying desperately to contact her partner Peter Wade and family is something she never wants to have to live through again.
“As soon as the earthquake stopped we went outside and pretty much instantly I started to get a really tight tummy. The baby was flipping around and really, really active. I think if the mother is on edge then that carries through into the baby as well,” says Selena, who never realised that she was about to go into premature labour.
The following day her tummy pains had settled, but that night they seemed to be coming at frighteningly regular intervals.
“I woke up at 2am with a hard tummy. This time it felt like bad period pains, and then it would go away again. I thought I’d start timing them, so I went and sat in the lounge and at 5.30am they were 10 minutes apart.
“By that stage I was reading all of my baby magazines to find out what happens if you go into labour when you’re only 26 weeks pregnant.”
Selena rang her midwife, who reassured her that the pains were probably caused by stress. But a few hours later she experienced another telltale sign that she was in labour – a show of blood.
Selena found herself packing her bags for hospital with the thought that she might be sent to another city centre to give birth.
“I was crying, and by the time I got to the hospital the contractions were coming much faster and were quite painful.”
At Christchurch Women’s Hospital, Erica was delivered by an emergency Caesarean at 10.06am on 24 February, weighing an astonishing 960g.
But despite her premature arrival, Erica was perfect and showing all the signs of a true survivor.
“They said she had an 85% chance of survival, so that was pretty good. We never really acknowledged the worst case scenario,” says Selena.
But another drama was already looming. There was no room at Christchurch Women’s Hospital because of the earthquake, and the family had to be transferred to Auckland with Erica in her incubator.
“I didn’t really want to go, but when I saw the Starship Air Ambulance it was set up exactly for that purpose. We had to wear earmuffs because it’s so noisy, and Erica had to be sedated for the trip. It’s not until you have the need for it that you appreciate it. Even the technician was making jokes and trying to keep us calm,” says Selena, speaking to New Zealand Woman’s Weekly at the newborn intensive care unit at Auckland Hospital.
After trying for a year to conceive their only child, Selena and Peter are overjoyed that Erica is doing so well.
“I had been for the first lot of blood tests to check my fertility and I was supposed to go for the next lot, but then I found out I was pregnant. We were absolutely thrilled.”
During week 11 of her pregnancy, Selena feared she might have lost the baby when she thought she was having a miscarriage. She was relieved to find out her baby was fine.
“A scan showed there was a heartbeat and she was wriggling around, and I cried,” says Selena, tears welling in her eyes at the memory.
“I was told by doctors to take it easy and not push myself, but there was nothing I could do about the earthquake.”
Despite her premature birth and the stress of being transferred within days of her arrival, Erica has a bright future ahead of her. She’s doubled her birth weight and is thriving under the care of the medical staff.
“She’s good now. She was quite large for her gestation, which gives her a better chance,” says Selena, who prefers not to reflect on the trauma of the past six weeks.
“Even now I try not to think about it or dwell on it too much. If I let myself cry I don’t know if I can stop because so much has happened.”
Selena has been staying by herself at the Ronald ocDonald House, since Peter had to return to work as a refrigeration engineer in Christchurch. Erica will be in hospital for the next eight weeks until she reaches her due date, but Selena thinks they’re the lucky ones.
“I know there are people much worse off than us. Apart from being premature, she’s perfect,” she smiles.
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