New mum Michelle Buchholtz happy for small mercies as baby Ava closer to home
WHEN Ava was born three months premature in November, her terminally ill mum’s one hope was that she would live long enough to take her baby home from hospital.
That wish hasn’t quite come true yet for Michelle Buchholtz. But this week, she got the next best thing.
Her tiny seven-week-old was moved out of the special care nursery at the Royal Women’s Hospital to the nursery at Sandringham Hospital — just a 10-minute drive from Ms Buchholtz and fiance Alex Ansalone’s McKinnon home.
Mr Ansalone said he and Ms Buchholtz previously had to travel up to 45 minutes to visit their baby girl.
“It was quite an effort to get Michelle into the car and drive 40, 45 minutes, where as now we can go anytime,” the 37-year-old said.
Ms Buchholtz, 38, made the difficult decision to give birth to Ava at about 29 weeks in a bid to extend her own life after breast cancer spread to her bones. Doctors feared she would not withstand a full-term pregnancy.
Ava’s doctors approved her move closer to home after she tipped the scales at more than 2kg this week — double her birth weight of 1053g.
She also enjoyed her first bath and was able to be fed by the bottle for the first time.
“She’s loving the formula,” Mr Ansalone said. “She’s really having no dramas — she keeps putting weight on.”
The loving dad said he hoped Ava would finally be able to come home in about three weeks.
“My birthday’s on Australia Day, so we’re hoping to have her home by then.”
He said Ms Buchholtz, who is undergoing chemotherapy, had “good days and bad days”, but had had a boost from her daughter’s move.
The couple were also buoyed by their first Christmas with Ava, which they spent at the Royal Women’s Hospital.
“They were kind enough to offer us a room for Christmas Eve, so we got to wake up in the morning with Ava,” Mr Ansalone said. “Santa Claus came in. It was really nice.”
The couple have had to postpone their wedding as chemotherapy takes its toll on Ms Buchholtz’s health.
The family received more than $285,000 in donations from people around the world who were touched by their story after it appeared in the Herald Sun late last year.