News from the Room
A story About Choosing Hope
In 2019, Hugh and Danielle were expecting their first baby. Until, at 21 weeks, their local hospital referred them to the Royal Women’s. Their baby’s growth had slowed.
And on November 3, their son Hamish was tragically stillborn.
In the weeks that followed, they met Dr Julia, director of the Birth Centre and head of Pregnancy After Loss Care at the Women’s. Julia explained Hamish’s postmortem and what it meant for future pregnancies.
In 2020, Hugh and Danielle chose hope and returned to Julia’s care. Their pregnancy was intense — treatments to support blood flow, ultrasound after ultrasound, constant uncertainty. Early concerns about the placenta never fully left, but their daughter Matilda was born at 35 weeks, tiny at 2.47 kg, but healthy.
Today, she’s a bright, confident five-year-old, about to start school.
In 2024, they returned to the Women’s for their third pregnancy. Blood flow concerns appeared again, but this time hope outweighed fear. Their son Felix arrived quickly at 34 weeks, weighing 2.35 kg. The first few months were tough, but now he’s a cheeky one-year-old who loves music, dancing, and playing with his big sister.
“Looking back, it’s hard to imagine that Felix might never have existed. The emotional toll of another high-risk pregnancy was almost too much. But we did it.”
Hugh and Danielle talk about Hamish often. Watching Matilda and Felix grow together, they feel incredibly lucky. They also wonder what all three of their kids would be getting up to together now.
The pregnancy after loss care they received through the Royal Women’s Hospital — led by Julia and her team — made all the difference. The consistency, the medical expertise, and the emotional support gave them the confidence to keep going.
Hamish will always be part of their story. And thanks to exceptional care, Matilda and Felix are here too.
If you’d like to help make sure this care continues for other families, follow the links in this newsletter to donate to the Dandelion Fund. Your support helps keep this service going for families like Hugh and Danielle’s.
All supporters also get an invite to the Scooting for Hope event on the 30th of November.
Hope to see you there!
👉 Donate here: https://dandelion-fund.raiselysite.com/.
SCOOTING FOR HOPE
24 Hours - 1 Scooter - 1 Purpose
$100K for Pregnancy after loss Care
The 411
This Week at Room Eleven
Had a meeting to roughly map out the hour-by-hour livestream for Scooting for Hope. Starting to get real now!
I’m also in talks with a beverage company to see if they can showcase their non-alcoholic range at the event, a great fit for a long day on the track.
Flyers and marketing graphics are ready and have started to go out into the world, on socials and hard.
Other than that, just outreach for both the event and for Room Eleven’s Grief Literacy Workshop.
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Weekly Musings
What I’m Watching: The Bear, Season 2 — Episode 7: Forks
This episode is one of the greatest depictions of growth and adaptation packed into 35 minutes.
It starts with Richie a mid-forties dude, stuck in his ways, comfortable in his own discomfort. Wasting potential. Not out of laziness, but fear. Fear of failure, fear of being left behind.
He’s thrown into a new environment, one that demands precision, pride, and purpose. At first, he resists. But slowly, his curiosity and desire to belong pull him forward. By the end, he’s transformed, not because someone saved him, but because he finally allowed himself to change.
He learns that even the smallest, most mundane tasks, like polishing forks until they gleam, can hold meaning when done with intention. Every detail matters. Every interaction counts.
Quote I’m Pondering:
“If your peace requires everything to be going right, that’s not peace. That’s control. Being steady in the uncertainty is the key to true peace.”
This one made me really stop and think, have the times I called “peace” just been the rare moments where everything was lined up, quiet, and predictable? When all the ducks were not only in a row but alphabetised?
Maybe I’ve been chasing control and calling it calm this entire time.
Guess it’s time to learn how to stay steady when the wheels are wobbling. I’ll absolutely need it next month!
This week’s been another reminder that growth doesn’t always look like progress, sometimes it’s just choosing to show up again after things fall apart.
Hugh and Danielle chose hope after the heartbreak of losing Hamish. Richie in The Bear found meaning in the smallest, most ordinary moments. And that quote about peace? It’s a reminder that calm isn’t about control. It’s about staying steady when everything’s shifting.
It’s the same lesson I teach in my grief literacy workshop: when the storm hits, you can’t stop the waves. But you can adjust your sails.
Finding peace in the chaos isn’t pretending the sea is calm, it’s learning how to move with it, not against it.
If you’d like to help us keep moving forward with Scooting for Hope and the work of Room Eleven, the best way is to share this newsletter, spread the word, or reach out if you’d like to get involved.
See you next week.
Rob
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