On 31st July a pregnancy test confirmed I was (about 4 weeks 3 days) pregnant with our first child! Within the next couple of days we had told everyone we knew! We were determined to celebrate our baby! Then we found ourselves a fantastic midwife!
On August 8 I had some bleeding. We went to the doctor the next I had bloods done to check my HCG levels... which initially were fine, then I had a scan, which showed that there was a pregnancy but it was too early to tell if it was live or not. So we went home uncertain about whether our baby was alive.
On August 8 I had some bleeding. We went to the doctor the next I had bloods done to check my HCG levels... which initially were fine, then I had a scan, which showed that there was a pregnancy but it was too early to tell if it was live or not. So we went home uncertain about whether our baby was alive.
But still we stayed positive and continued to celebrate our baby!
A couple of days later I had more bloods done and then even more a couple of days after that, the HCG levels continued to rise, but not as expected so it was a wait and see game really... the doctor wanted me to continue to have bloods done but since they were not giving us answers at all, we said no more to bloods and we would wait for a scan at what turned out to be 6 weeks 6 days into the pregnancy, and to our extreme relief and joy, we saw a healthy, strong heartbeat!
6ish weeks later (12 weeks 2 days) we got to hear our baby's heartbeat on the doppler when we saw our midwife and the very next day we had a scan and everything came across normal. On Thursday November 25th at 20 weeks 2 days, we had our next scan and discovered we were having a baby girl!!! However there was a downer to our scan... from what they could see, our baby girl only had half a heart, a diaphragmatic hernia and a 6th toe on one foot. The news was hard as it was explained that it was all very serious, but while we shared the news with others, we also continued to celebrate our baby, now more than ever! We had appointments and scans at Waikato hospital with specialists and were eventually referred to Auckland Hospital.
Each scan seemed to bring more bad news, with the diaphragmatic hernia, more and more things seemed to be moving into her chest area, pressing on her lungs and heart hindering their development. But despite the constant bad news they continued to deliver, we continued to love, celebrate and enjoy our lovely Lily Tyne. Each kick and movement, while sometimes uncomfortable brought joy.
Then on Thursday March 10th we had an appointment in Auckland where we were hoping they would be able to give us some plan for what would happen after Lily's birth... instead, they told us there was nothing they could do for our baby girl when she was born. This news was heartbreaking...
On my first day of maternity leave at 10.45pm my waters broke. Our midwife suggested we go back to bed (yeah right) as I wasn't having any other signs of labour and we would see her in the morning.
The next day we went to see the midwife, and we went to the hospital and we went home, deciding to give my body and Lily the chance to go into labour naturally. The next day we went to the hospital at 4pm where they induced me (read the birth story for more about this strange birth!). And in the middle of the night, when there was no one but me and Luke in the room, Lily slipped into the world (yes slipped!)... When she was born there was no medical intervention at our request, so we held her close as she slowly took a few breaths before leaving us for the arms of the Angels.
Then, when you would think the hard part was over, we had to leave our baby girl overnight at the funeral home before picking her back up the next morning to take home where we had her in an open casket and people came to visit us and Lily and decorate her casket and leave something small to go in with her if they wished.
2 days after her birth, we celebrated her life. More than 150 people came to celebrate with us and it was a beautiful send off for our baby girl! We gave her over to the arms of our Heavenly Daddy and laid her body to rest nearby with another beautiful and heart wrenching goodbye.
Yes, that is the short version!
A couple of days later I had more bloods done and then even more a couple of days after that, the HCG levels continued to rise, but not as expected so it was a wait and see game really... the doctor wanted me to continue to have bloods done but since they were not giving us answers at all, we said no more to bloods and we would wait for a scan at what turned out to be 6 weeks 6 days into the pregnancy, and to our extreme relief and joy, we saw a healthy, strong heartbeat!
6ish weeks later (12 weeks 2 days) we got to hear our baby's heartbeat on the doppler when we saw our midwife and the very next day we had a scan and everything came across normal. On Thursday November 25th at 20 weeks 2 days, we had our next scan and discovered we were having a baby girl!!! However there was a downer to our scan... from what they could see, our baby girl only had half a heart, a diaphragmatic hernia and a 6th toe on one foot. The news was hard as it was explained that it was all very serious, but while we shared the news with others, we also continued to celebrate our baby, now more than ever! We had appointments and scans at Waikato hospital with specialists and were eventually referred to Auckland Hospital.
Each scan seemed to bring more bad news, with the diaphragmatic hernia, more and more things seemed to be moving into her chest area, pressing on her lungs and heart hindering their development. But despite the constant bad news they continued to deliver, we continued to love, celebrate and enjoy our lovely Lily Tyne. Each kick and movement, while sometimes uncomfortable brought joy.
Then on Thursday March 10th we had an appointment in Auckland where we were hoping they would be able to give us some plan for what would happen after Lily's birth... instead, they told us there was nothing they could do for our baby girl when she was born. This news was heartbreaking...
On my first day of maternity leave at 10.45pm my waters broke. Our midwife suggested we go back to bed (yeah right) as I wasn't having any other signs of labour and we would see her in the morning.
The next day we went to see the midwife, and we went to the hospital and we went home, deciding to give my body and Lily the chance to go into labour naturally. The next day we went to the hospital at 4pm where they induced me (read the birth story for more about this strange birth!). And in the middle of the night, when there was no one but me and Luke in the room, Lily slipped into the world (yes slipped!)... When she was born there was no medical intervention at our request, so we held her close as she slowly took a few breaths before leaving us for the arms of the Angels.
Then, when you would think the hard part was over, we had to leave our baby girl overnight at the funeral home before picking her back up the next morning to take home where we had her in an open casket and people came to visit us and Lily and decorate her casket and leave something small to go in with her if they wished.
2 days after her birth, we celebrated her life. More than 150 people came to celebrate with us and it was a beautiful send off for our baby girl! We gave her over to the arms of our Heavenly Daddy and laid her body to rest nearby with another beautiful and heart wrenching goodbye.
Yes, that is the short version!
