Stacey Brell and her son, Armani-John. Inset Armani-John in hospital during lockdown. Photo / Andrew Warner
Stacey Brell and her son, Armani-John. Inset Armani-John in hospital during lockdown. Photo / Andrew Warner
Resilience, strength and bravery.
These are some of the qualities Rotorua mum Stacey Brell has mastered after working through the hardest decision she has ever made during the first lockdown three years ago.
When New Zealand was plunged into a snap lockdown this time three years ago, Brell had toleave her eight-week-old premature baby boy in the hospital, so she could care for her other children, while her partner had to work.
Three years on, her little boy is still proving to be a warrior.
On March 19, 2020, the region had its first case of Covid-19 in Rotorua. Three days later there was a case in Tauranga.
Hospitals implemented no visitor policies and created Covid-19 wards. Movement within hospitals was controlled, and non-clinical staff worked from home.
Brell learned she had to choose between staying in Rotorua Hospital to care for her son Armani-John Selwyn, or remain in Covid-19 isolation at home with the rest of her family.
Armani-John was born on January 30, 2020, 15 weeks early and weighed 952 grams.
He spent two months fighting for his life in Waikato Hospital’s Newborn Intensive Care Unit with his mum by his side, and was then moved to Rotorua Hospital.
Rotorua mother Stacey Brell with her premature son, Armani-John Selwyn, in 2020. Photo / Supplied
One day later the country went into lockdown.
Brell’s partner, an essential worker, was on call and there was no one else to look after their three other children, aged between 18 months and 11 years.
For two weeks, the only interaction Brell had with her newborn son was photos, and talking and reading to him via video call with the help of “amazing” nurses.
On top of the heartache of the separation, she remembered the difficulty of missing out on a lot of firsts, the things that strengthen the bond between mother and child: Bath time, feeding, and changing nappies.
Rotorua mother Stacey Brell with her premature son, Armani-John Selwyn, in 2020. Photo / Supplied
“It was one of the hardest things I’ve had to do,” she said.
After two weeks, she was allowed to go into the hospital once a day to start breastfeeding and connecting with her son again.
She savoured the few hours with him every evening, once her youngest daughter was asleep.
On April 27, 2020, the country moved to Alert Level 3, which still had heavy restrictions.
Armani-John was discharged on May 3, and 10 days later, the country moved to Alert Level 2. On June 8, more than two months after going into complete lockdown, the country moved to Alert Level 1.
Brell said it was “really good” to have the family together again for the children to meet their youngest brother.
Stacey Brell and her son, Armani-John Selwyn. Photo / Andrew Warner
“It finally felt like our family was together and our family was complete.”
However, the road since then has not been smooth, with the first 18 months of Armani-John’s life mostly spent in the hospital as he battled low immunity and chronic lung disease.
The past few years have been filled with intensive care unit stays, ambulance journeys, and calls for support from loved ones to help with the other children.
Though Armani-John has already been to the hospital three times this year, he is getting stronger with age, and the trips are less frequent.
“It’s going really well at the moment.”
Brell said as “heartbreaking” as the first lockdown was, it strengthened the bond between her and her partner, who had to lean on each other for everything from emotional support to sharing the load.
She said all the challenges also made her stronger emotionally.
For the next year and a bit, the country would move between different restriction levels, until the country went into another lockdown on August 17, 2021, for two weeks.
The Bay of Plenty managed to avoid the extended tight Alert Level 3 restrictions that mainly affected Auckland for much of the remainder of 2021.
December 2, 2021 marked the end of the Alert System, and the country moved to the Covid-19 Protection Framework, also known as the traffic light system.
