Melissa Foggie describes the birth of her gorgeous little girl Montana as the most traumatic thing she has every experienced. Montana entered the world with the cord prolapse, where the umbilical cord exits the cervix before the baby restricting the baby’s oxygen for what Melissa describes as “quite some time”.
“I have no doubt that the midwife saved Montana’s life that day, I am actually still in contact with her. We went in for a planned induction and everything just happened so quickly. The midwife was performing a check and straight away her face just dropped – she felt the cord being squashed with every contraction.” Melissa recalls.
“We were rushed to a category 1 emergency caesarean and Montana was then immediately rushed to Melbourne. I was heartbroken, I didn’t think I would see her again.” She added.
Montana’s father Matt had similar concerns, immediately worrying that he would lose both a partner and a child that day. Thankfully both share a fighting spirit, which they’ve no doubt all needed over the 18 months that have since passed.
Within days of her arrival, an MRI had shown damage to Montana’s brain consistent with cerebral palsy – a permanent condition with no known cure. Initially, Montana spent her first days of life on a cooling mat to help reduce inflammation in the brain and Melissa recalls that she was continuously convincing herself that everything would be alright.
Montana was just 6 weeks old when she began physiotherapy and occupational therapy sessions with the Victorian Paediatric Rehabilitation Services at Bendigo Health and 18 months on llittle Montana is a confident and fun loving toddler.
“She is a very determined little girl, anytime anyone has said that she might not be able to do something, straight away she does it. Her therapists Maree and Bridget are always impressed with her progress and Matt and I hold a lot of that to the work they do with her. Every time we have a concern with her mobility they work with us straight away to give her the best outcomes.”.
Melissa said that had the rehabilitation services not been available locally and publically that their family would not have been able to give Montana such intense therapy in the first 12 months of her life, which she credits as responsible for her incredible progression.
Melissa, who shares five other children with partner, Matt, just wants the family’s youngest to retain her confidence “I want to see her carry that confidence through life, I think that comes from having four older brothers to play with. She just loves the park and will run out the door to get there if she can.” says Melissa.
Montana is one of the many children who will benefit from an outdoor kids rehabilitation play space to be used as part of her therapy once constructed.
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