A STORY I WILL NEVER FORGET

I am currently working with a group of people to bring you a series of stories about others living with a rare disease. Due to a few hiccups, this will hopefully start next week.

In the meantime a writing prompt from the #Friday reflections, writing group caught my attention this week:

The two moments you will never forget in life are…
Describe them in great detail, and what makes them so unforgettable.


The following is an excerpt from my book ONE LUMP OR TWO. It's more than two moments; it’s a whole day or two which I will never forget.

As I typed the story that day, I found myself in tears. It was a hard story, one I had never really spoken about.

At the time I wasn’t sure about why the tears had flowed and to be honest I’m still unsure. Maybe it’s because we almost lost her.

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I had one day of morning sickness with my first pregnancy but was sick almost continuously for the first three months of my second. Looking back now I should have known what I was in for. This was a feisty baby, one with an opinion, one who made her presence known.

I remember going for my 18 week ultrasound. Somehow I knew there would be a problem and sure enough, her heart was thumping loudly and clearly, but she refused to move.

The ultrasound lady said she needed to move, and for the only time ever in my life, told me to go away and eat a mars bar and drink a coke and to come back in two hours. I wonder now about the safety of all that sugar flooding my system but nevertheless, there she was dancing for the camera two hours later. That was her first performance and funnily enough she can still be bribed with sugar today.


On the day she decided to make her presence really felt, I was at work. I was in a classroom trying to manage a bunch of Yr 10 terrors. She didn't like them. I could feel that because she was punching out from inside. Like mothers everywhere I went into protective mode. I got another teacher to mind the kids and walked straight to the car and drove straight to the doctor.

Ashton had been five week's premature but the possibility that this baby might be premature had never crossed my mind. So I was taken aback when the doctor told me I was already partly dilated at 32 weeks. Her exact words were “Ring your husband. Go straight to hospital".

I'm not sure what they do nowadays, but 18 years ago it was strict bed rest. I was not allowed to move, although occasionally I had a short walk to visit a patient in a similar situation, in an adjoining room. The husband and Ashton (age 2) came to visit regularly but all I really did for a while was sleep.

Then came the day.
                                            
The husband had gone to visit a country show in his home town forty minutes away. He didn't like leaving me but I encouraged him to go because there was no need for him to miss out, and he needed a break from the hospital. He would have just arrived, when suddenly back at pregnancy home base I got my first contraction.

Organized panic set in. I wasn't quite 33 weeks and babies that young had to be delivered in the city because my town did not have the facilities to care for their needs. The GP called the Flying Doctor and set the wheels in motion for me to be flown to Perth...again! This was how my first baby had arrived.

Meanwhile in a time before mobile phones, the husband had been located and was on his way back. He had been close by all week yet I chose the time he was farthest from me to go into labour. Poor man!

Because my baby was still so young I had to wait for a specialized medical team to be assembled to fly up to get me. This took a bit of time and in the meantime I tried very hard not to give birth. Joke!

The Flying Doctor finally arrived and I was wheeled outside for the first time in a week. A storm had started and I didn't fancy being in a small plane up in the storm with a baby that was insistent on being born. The medical crew were fantastic but lets face it, it was early in the morning (about 2 am) and we were about to go up in a small plane among thunder, rain and lightning. I was terrified and in labour!

I shared the plane with an unconscious young woman, another medical drama. She had been in a riding accident earlier that day and also needed to be transferred to the city. Because the plane was full the husband couldn't come, but he promised to drive down in the morning. 

The plane ride was horrendous and even though I was lying down, I vomited non-stop all the way to the city. The nurse and doctor set up a drip because they were worried about dehydration but I just kept vomiting and vomiting.

We arrived in the city and I was transferred to an ambulance. It was about 3.30am and I remember

                                                                     

flying down the freeway with the sirens blaring. It all seemed so surreal at the time but that’s what happened and there I was in the middle.

I arrived at the hospital to be greeted by the kindest nurse I have ever met. I promptly threw up what was left of me, but she didn't flinch. In fact she had me wheeled into an emergency labour room and promptly gave me a bath. I must have smelt a treat after two hours solid vomiting. Just as I was about to sleep, the door opened and it was my Mum. It was 4.30am and knowing what I was going through she had come to be with me. At the sight of my Mum, I cried buckets of tears but stopped when the door opened again. It was my sister. She had rung the husband to find out what was going on and she had come up too.

Meanwhile, my baby oblivious to the trouble she had caused slept. And eventually so did I.

In the morning, which was only a couple of hours later I was able to work out where I was properly and think straight. The doctor had come for a visit in the middle of the night, not looking too pleased that she had been woken up.  I was past caring as yet another birth was going haywire and this upset me.

About mid-morning my baby decided to do a complete cartwheel and then suddenly I felt all wrong. I went to the bathroom and found that the umbilical cord was outside my body. WHY DO THESE THINGS ALWAYS HAPPEN TO ME?

The doctor was called and apparently there was a problem because my baby had turned and become stuck somewhere. Because she was only 33 weeks it was going to take time to dislodge her without stressing her. The pain was unbearable and I was not allowed any medication...not sure why.

At one stage I was in so much pain, I remember four nurses holding me down. I think they were trying to turn baby around and dislodge her. Whatever it was, I was screaming and my poor husband looked so distressed, the doctor asked for him to be taken outside.

And then suddenly amidst all the screaming, the pain just disappeared. Just like that it left and I felt relieved, till I heard the doctor tell the anaesthetist to “knock her out NOW ". Apparently I had started to haemorrhage and my baby's life was at risk.

She was flat when she was born but soon picked up. This was one tough baby who started life in traumatic circumstances, but fought and fought.

When I was woken from a general anaesthetic and an emergency caesarian, my first glimpse of my baby was not how I ever expected it. Rather than lying on me, she lay near me in a small humidicrib. I was allowed to touch her through the holes in the crib. She was so, so small! 4lbs 8oz.

Like any premmie, there were issues. She had to be fed via a syringe through her nose, she wouldn't suck and when she did suck she wouldn't breathe. We got through all the issues...one by one. As I said, this was one tough baby girl.


And that's basically how she has been all her life! She is a tough cookie with the biggest heart. She is
loved by friends, family, workmates...everyone. She has her faults, don't you worry, but you forgive her most things because she makes you laugh and cry at the same time. She is an actress, a singer, a dancer, a clown, a joker and the list goes on. To me she will always be my “Baby Born” dolly and my favourite younger daughter.

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I'm sure you will agree that it's hard to forget a story like that.

I would love to hear your stories and experiences.

What moment in your life will you never forget?

Thanks for reading,

Till next time...xxx

Ciara and Ashton

ST