Here he is! Our beautiful little boy, Jayden Sully. Born on Saturday 14th April, at 05:20am, weighing a reasonable 5lbs. Pregnancy was a challenge for us and my placenta was failing, I spent the majority of the last 9 days in hospital, admitted to the maternity ward. Finally, they decided to induce me, because my blood pressure was rising loads - up to 173/128, and that’s WITH regular medication. Our little boy was measuring smaller than he should have, with reduced amniotic fluid too - he measured 33 weeks during a scan at 35+1, with an amniotic fluid level of 5.7. I was induced at 36 weeks pregnant. I had a pessary at 10pm on Thursday 12th April. My contractions started at around 8am on Friday 13th April, between 3 and 10 minutes apart, lasting around 20-40 seconds. My waters went at around 8pm, and I was put on a hormone drip of syntocinon at 9pm. All was okay to start with, but things took a turn for the worst. I started gas and air at around midnight, but didn’t find it as helpful as others said it would. My little mans heart rate kept plummeting. I was hooked up to monitors the entire time, wasn’t allowed to get off the hospital bed, even weeing in bed pans! I was breathing the gas and air to get me through each contraction, but I kept stopping as could hear his heart beat getting weaker and weaker, until it was replaced with mine. The midwives and consultants were amazing, kept flipping me around and bringing him back, increasing his heart rate again. My blood pressure kept rising, medication wasn’t keeping it down anymore. I began vomiting a lot, and this in turn stressed out our unborn baby. The hormone drip was turned off, in the hope that this would help our little guy out a bit, but we were told he had “used his reserves”. By 4:50am on Saturday, our babies heart rate had dramatically plummeted 18 times. By this time, the consultant decided that our little man couldn’t take much more, and prepared surgery. My partner got changed into scrubs, and I was going to have a spinal block. However, my blood pressure kept rising, and my anaemia put me at a higher risk of losing too much blood and needing a transfusion. Within minutes, I was in the theatre room, mid contraction, screaming with no pain relief. I was put to sleep, with a room full of people- surgeons, midwives, baby doctors, I even had a space reserved in neonatal intensive care unit.

When I came round, I was in agony - I was given paracetamol, dihydracodeine, and morphine (oramorph). It still hurt ALOT but all I kept thinking about was my little boy, and if he was okay. My partner joined me in recovery, along with my mum, followed by consultants. It was explained to me that my baby was in neonatal intensive care. My partner showed me some photos of him and my heart melted. He had tubes over him, wires on his head and chest to monitor his breathing and brain waves. He had a traumatic entry to the world. We found out that at birth, his heart rate dropped to below 60 beats per minute, and he couldn’t breath. Airways were checked and clear, tubes in his tiny little throat but still no luck. Within 2 minutes of being in the world, his heart stopped. The doctors began resuscitation. After six while minutes of CPR, my little boy started breathing again. He had since been kept in neonatal intensive care, and initially tests weren’t too hopeful, this soon changed as his breathing and lactate levels had stabilised. After a few hours, I was allowed to see him. I just wanted a cuddle, but he was still too fragile, in his tiny little incubator, hooked up to an IV like for antibiotics. I spent time just watching his chest rise and fall, taking in every single beautiful feature on his face, in awe that we had created such an amazing human being. I returned to the ward for my observations, tests and bed rest, and returned to his side as much as I could just to look at him. Not long before 11pm, 15 hours after my son entered the world, I got to hold him in my arms for the first time. Suddenly everything was worth it, all of the scares, all of the pain, everything. And I now know what a mother’s love for her son truly feels like. 💕

Jayden spent 3 days in neonatal intensive care, had brain wave tests, and stayed in an incubator hooked up to lots of monitors. After 2 days his breathing stabilised, but his blood sugars dropped so he remained on a drip. Then on day 3, he suddenly got so much better! The drip came out of his tiny hand, the monitors became unhooked and he was put in a cot. He came upstairs with us to the hospital ward. His jaundice got worse, so ended up in an incubator again, for bilirubin phototherapy. Within a few days, he had got better again!

We waited on a weight gain which seemed to take forever, he stuck at 2100g for what felt like a life time- we just wanted to take him home! Then one day, he went on the scales, and was 2200g! We were so excited to take him home, after a weight gain of 100g in 24 hours!! It’s amazing to have our little soldier at home with us, and it’s been tough at times too! But it’s so worth it, and we are so unbelievably proud of how strong our little boy has been! 💙