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| My children |
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| Sophie-Maree |
Unexpected journey of a young mother...
You watch movies and see these perfect babies being born. 10 fingers and 10 toes, you look forward to simply cuddle someone who you have created within you, not thinking that behind those little kicks, they could be hiding something unique about them.
When I was pregnant with Sarah, who is now 6 years old, I had the perfect pregnancy, and labour, however after 3 hours of pushing, little miss Sarah came to this world via ceaseran section weighing at 8p 2oz on the 1st of October 2006. She was a bright and happy infant, that is until she first got sick. Her temperature went up, and I watched in horror as my smiley little girl began to convulse in a way that I describe something out of my worst nightmare. Her seizures were called Febrile Convulsions, and by the time she was 3 years old, they had completely vanished.
When Sarah turned 1 I had discovered I was pregnant again.
My pregnancy with Jarod was perfect until 11 weeks, when I began bleeding heavily. Staying the night in hospital, it wasn't until it was 12am was I able to see my little bean jumping around happily, only to see what was the last remains of my second baby fading into nothing, its little empty sac sat next to my cervix. Jarod was born on the 4th of July 2008, weighing 9p 14oz Vbac. I went home that day, feeling happy and extremely pleased with myself. That whole day he slept, which I thought was typical of a naturally born baby. By the evening, it was a total different story. He started to vomit this yellowy green bile, which being a concerned mummy, started trying to breastfeed him, thinking it was a stomach bug that our house was plagued with not long before he was born. By morning, he no longer vomited, but he no longer wanted to feed off me, and all he wanted to do was sleep. We called my midwife, who tried to attach him to me, but nope he still didn't want anything from me. So we raced back up to the hospital, as the midwife had spoken to someone before we got up there, we were sent to the NIC Unit. We sat there for about an hour, before a nurse came in who said that we had to go back down to the waiting room at the emergency department because I had signed the discharge papers, so they had to readmit us back in. Sitting there surrounded by sick people with a brand new baby wasn't something I smiled about, however half an hour later, we were sent to a patient room. Sitting there holding a grizzly baby, waiting to see the doctor felt like a lifetime, when finally we were sent into the examination room of the Childrens ward. By the time they started working on him, he was so dehydrated his veins kept collapsing, his stomach was bloated to the point he had stretch marks, and he just wasnt looking great. Finally after flying out of the hospital at 6:40, they managed to settle him down. He was on NBM for 3 weeks, which he was being supported by glucose, then finally he was put on TPN and Lipids. At 3 1/2 weeks, he was formally diagnosed with Hirschsprungs disease (a rare bowel disease), and had a colostomy put in. When he was 6 months old, he had a pull through called the suave procedure which reconnected everything. When he was 7 months, I found out I was pregnant with my 3rd child. We are still having issues with his bowel, but hes doing really well.
Rhiannon, my dear miss Rhiannon. She was born on the 1st of November weighing 8p 9oz. She was my cute little pumpkin baby. She grew up healthy, breastfed til around 8 months. Only had to stop due to her great need to make me bleed while breastfeeding ( must be those Twilight Books of mine I was reading during pregnancy). She was perfect, until one evening when I was getting her ready for bed. My little girl had her first seizure. I knew something wasnt right because she didn't have a temperature. She then had two more the following days. I managed to capture a recording of one of her seizures which majorly helped her be diagnosed quicker. Please dont beat on a parent who decides to record their child mid seizure, it can save their life!. She was diagnosed with Total Catatonic Epilepsy. She now takes Epilim twice a day. At 3 years of age, shes a total bundle of mischief.
-I wanted another baby when she was 6 months old. In fact started trying around the same time as my friend on FB, only to be there celebrating with her at the birth of her lovely dear son Joshua, who sadly last year passed away. Please check out Joshua's Fight to read his story- https://www.facebook.com/Joshuasfightforlife?fref=ts
Ahh yay! finally after trying for a year and a half, we got pregnant with mr Soren. I was so excited to meet him, infact when I found out I was pregnant with him, I walked out of the toilet with my pants still around my ankles to show Jarod (my husband). I had this great fear that he would be born with Hirschsprungs too when I found out he was a boy. Soren was born on the 30th of May via elective csection...I was lying there waiting to hold my bundle of joy, for that first skin to skin contact, only to be told he's having breathing difficulties, fine, thats ok, phew, when they brought him over....I held my breath....It wasn't because he was perfect...it was because I was blessed with a cleft baby. My first comment was "Oh, he has a cleft lip" I was smiling, he could have had a second nose and it wouldnt matter to me. The nurse asked me if I had known about it, and I said no, I have just seen it on the internet. When they took him away due to his heart racing a bit quick, I started to cry. I so badly wanted to be brave because I knew it would be another medical journey I would be taking, I was utterly saddened to the fact I was going to be facing a operating theater again as they take my baby to fix what ever God blessed them with. Soren weighed at the lightest of my brood 7p 12oz. He had his Bilateral Incomplete Cleft lip repaired when he was 5 months old. He is still feeding like an absolutely tramp...100% breastfed right from the get go.
My expectations of a mother were simply to prepare for perfection, that children are God's gift to us, to deny how they come to us, would be to deny that gift. He never gives us what we cannot handle. It does seem totally daunting that I have come through 4 pregnancies, with 3 of my children being blessed with something unique about them, but when I sit down at the end of the day, I am grateful that I am able to hold my children in my arms and tell them I love them.
In July last year, my 2 year old niece Sophie-Maree passed away, due to many series of unfortunate events. My brother and his wife are the picture perfect parents. I couldnt never ever forsee this horrible thing happening to them. So please I beg you all, look after your babies, because you never know when it may be the last time you will see them smiling at you and saying hello.
Thanks for reading my big blog post, keep a look out for my next one, I like to write :)
