At our 36 week growth scan it was found our baby boy’s brain hadn’t developed normally and he has something called a lipoma, which is basically fatty tissue where his Corpus Callosum (the link between the two sides of the brain) is. It wasn’t detected at our 20 week scan and I’m actually glad for that because the last couple of weeks of pregnancy were just so anxiety ridden wondering if our baby was going to be ok. I would have been an emotional wreck had I known for longer.

My obstetrician offered to induce my labour at 39 weeks so that we could meet our baby boy as soon as possible and see he is ok. I was already a couple of centimeters dilated so the induction started with my waters being broken and I was connected to the oxytocin drop. I had been warned that the induction could mean I experience painful contractions quickly as there’s not the gradual build up to the pain of early labour but I found the first couple of hours pretty bearable. After maybe 2 hours the pain started to increase and I was using the gas and at this stage I was asked if I wanted an epidural by the midwife as they were expecting I was about 4-5cm dilated - my obstetrician was out of the room though so my cervix hadn’t been checked. We waited for what felt like a lifetime for the anesthetist but was probably half an hour. He tried to insert the epidural but unfortunately it went into a blood vessel on the first attempt and so it wasn’t going to work so he had to try again. The whole time the epidural is getting put in you need to stay very still and this felt like the impossible through contractions. He had three more attempts at inserting the epidural over the next 30 min but couldn’t get it. At this point my midwife suspected I was further along than they originally thought - it had only been about 4 hours since the oxytocin was started but she just had a feeling so she called my OB in to check and turns our I was actually fully dilated and ready to push! It was way too late for an epidural now anyway!

I pushed for about half an hour and then our little guy Franklin Alan was born. He came into the world screaming so loudly! Weighing 3.2kg, he looked just perfect.

Frankie is healthy in every single way and passed every test and check. He had another ultrasound of his brain through the gaps in his skull to make sure the rest of his brain structures are ok and they’re perfect. We will get some genetic testing results back in a couple of weeks too.

Originally after seeing the lipoma we were told Frankie had a chance of having some learning difficulties so I was worried he might have struggled with breastfeeding but there was no need, he’s a champ at it!

We are so in love with our gorgeous boy and so grateful for all of the care and support we had from the medical staff. We know Frankie is in the best of hands with his follow up checks. 💙