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Well done. I didn’t know that there was such a competition.
Your story must be very interesting, i would love to hear it? where can i do so?
Well done again.
that’s fab news well done, c an you post up your story for all of us the hear……congrats again…..nice to hear there’s nice birth stories out there
cheers tks a mill – i’d love to put the story up on mumstown – how can i do this? attach or copy & paste???
missyg
I am a profoundly deaf mum of 2. My son Connor is 4 and my daughter Sophie is nearly 2. I’m 31 years old & I was born deaf. The dedication & time my parents gave me over the years make me the person I am today. When I was 26 yrs old I got pregnant on my first child. I had pre eclampsia at 33wks gestation & ended up in the O.R having an emergency section. My son Connor was born weighing only 2lbs 15oz. He was 7 wks early. There were no complications with him thankfully! However on the other hand I wasn’t doing so good. The blood pressure had spiralled out of control & normally after delivery blood pressure gradually comes down but mine continued to go up! It wasn’t looking particularly good for me & everyone was extremely worried. The hospital had to phone my husband to come back to the hospital to see me as it was quite serious & there was nothing they could do.
Thanks to his quick thinking, my husband went upstairs to the Special Care Unit to see Connor & filmed him on the video camera & brought it back down to me in Recovery & showed me how well Connor was doing. I started to relax & was happy to see that Connor was being looked after extremely well & all I had to do was get well again so that I could see him myself. Gradually the blood pressure came down & I was out of danger!
I had to stay in recovery for a full 24 hours but later that night they said I was well enough to be brought up to see Connor. So with the help of my husband & a midwife I got into a wheelchair & was brought upstairs to meet my son for the very first time! I was overwhelmed with great love when I first laid eyes on him I couldn’t believe he was mine!!! He was premature & very tiny but he was breathing on his own! The nurse looking after him took him out for me & popped him down my nightdress so that we could feel close again & that he could feel my heartbeat & know he was with his Mummy! It was the best feeling in the whole world & I felt so blessed to have him. The nurse took a photo & that photograph is very much cherished to this day.
Connor stayed in Special Care for approx 4wks while I was allowed out after 5 days. It was very difficult going home without him especially since he was my first baby but he just wasn’t ready to come home yet. He still had to be monitored & gotten into a feeding pattern & put on some weight before they even considered letting him home. They also did hearing tests on him because obviously with my deafness it was important to check his hearing. We were delighted to find out that Connor’s hearing was absolutely fine!
When Connor came home we were just over the moon! The whole family celebrated & we were so happy that we could finally start to enjoy Connor & I looked forward to being a mum. However, we only had Connor home 5wks when he became seriously ill overnight. I just knew something was wrong so we brought him back down to the hospital & the nurse when she looked at him knew all was not well. She put him on oxygen immediately & called a paediatrician. Connor then had to be brought to the Children’s Hospital for tests. He had Meningitis/Septicaemia.
After all we had been through at the birth we thought nothing else would go wrong. We were absolutely devastated! However, Connor being the little fighter he is, he pulled through. They told us at the hospital that we got him to hospital in time & they were able to give him the treatment he needed. Therefore, he suffered no side effects from the meningitis & he was allowed home 2wks later.
Connor was prone to chest infections and viruses for the first 2yrs of his life but he is a perfectly healthy 4yr old who is very charming & active. He just started school &absolutely loves it!
When Connor was almost 2 we decided we wanted to try for another baby after careful consideration. I wanted Connor to have a baby brother/sister to grow up with. We did go through a lot with Connor but I really really wanted another baby! I was delighted to find at the age of 29 that I was pregnant again but extremely worried at the same time. The hospital & my GP monitored me very closely because of my history & all was fine until 26wks when I recognised the signs of pre eclampsia again. I went to my GP for a blood pressure check & unfortunately it was up. He sent me straight to the hospital & I ended up staying in for 6wks.
I was gutted but understood it had to be done to prolong the pregnancy for as long as possible. It was so difficult though. My husband had to keep working & Connor had to move in with my parents so that he was being looked after properly & they live close to the hospital which meant I could see him quite often.
The blood pressure would be under control under the proper medication. However, after a day or two it would go up & they would have to increase the dosage & so on. Finally at 32wks plus 5 days gestation after a scan, it was noticed that although the blood pressure was under control, the blood supply from the placenta to the baby was deteriorating & the baby had to be delivered by Caescarian.
Sophie was born weighing 2lbs 15oz – the same as her brother! She came into the world screaming the place down, it was fantastic! I was so sick on Connor & it was such a rush. It all happened so quick that I didn’t really know what was going on. With Sophie I was completely conscious of everything & I knew exactly what was happening & it was a brilliant experience! There was no complications & she was doing excellent!
Compared to the first time I was very relaxed & was much better in myself hence the recovery went very well! I couldn’t believe that I had gone through this all over again but I was so glad I finally had a daughter & that both children were healthy & doing so well. But we decided our family was complete. The hospital told us chances are high for every child after I would go through the same experience & it was something I really didn’t want to go through again! So that was it! We finally had what we wished for.
Again, Sophie was in Special Care for approx. 4wks before she was allowed home. When she was 12wks old we had her hearing tested & we discovered then that she was profoundly deaf, just like her Mum. Our whole world just caved in. We were devastated yet again that life dealt us another cruel blow! She was born deaf & I completely blamed myself, saying I just couldn’t do anything right whether it was giving birth, or having healthy children. For a long time I struggled to come to terms with what had happened since Connor’s birth right up to having Sophie. It was really difficult to cope with.
I have a wonderful husband & a fantastic family & if it wasn’t for them I would have been completely lost! We took it day by day & we started adjusting & getting our priorities right. I decided to take a career break from work & stay at home & do alot of work with Sophie as regards speech therapy, lipreading & understanding people. Sophie was also referred to Beaumont for assessment for a Cochlear Implant which is a device implanted into the skull bone & attached to the inner ear & provides amplified hearing & acts as a more powerful hearing aid; directing sound to where it needs to go as it travels through the ear.
It was a tough decision to make because Sophie is such a healthy little girl in every way. The only problem was her hearing. I survived on hearing aids alone all my life without any type of surgery so we weren’t sure if this was the way forward. However, we decided we wanted to give Sophie every possible chance in life. We wanted her to have as much opportunity as possible so we decided to go ahead with it. In March this year Sophie underwent surgery & it was a great success! 4wks later the implant was "switched on" & almost immediately we started seeing a reaction from her with different voices & sounds. Before the surgery she was wearing 2 hearing aids & getting absolutely nothing from them. Since getting the implant Sophie has come on tremendously & her progress is amazing! She’s nearly 2 yrs old & has already started speaking. She says a few words & can communicate extremely well. Also her level of understanding is fanstastic as well. She still has a long way to go & years of implant tuning & speech therapy but she is off to an excellent start!
I’m extremely lucky to have 2 very special children, born in special circumstances & they both have put life into perspective for myself & my husband & we have become a very very close & extremely strong family. I like to think of us all as survivors! We have dealt with everything that has been thrown at us in the last 4 and a half years & yet we are extremely happy. We’re very proud parents & we wouldn’t change our children for the world! I love my children to bits & they are my life…… I have all I ever wanted & more.[/code][/url]
What an amazing story, I’m so delighted for you that it has all worked out well. I just read it out to by husband & my voice cracked a few times, i had to try not to cry. I could relate to some of it as my ds was also taken away to ICU as soon as he was born & i wasn’t well enough to see him for 2 days, then like you i had to leave the hospital with out him. I’m not a bit shocked that you won that award, you totally deserved it. God you have been through so much but seem so strong. Well done again. Very well written story too. Best of luck to you & your family in the future. Congrats again. Thrilled for you.
you so deserve to win god that’s an amazing story really brought tears to my eys, i must say you are a very strong woman to go through everything you have gone through, a woman to be admired, it puts into persepective the aches and pains one would give out bout after having a regularly normal birth and struggle….you really are an inspiration….you should be very proud of yourself and your husband, a role model to all that no matter what things look up, and your 2 beautiful children are lucky to have you both as such wonderful parents and you to have 2 wonderful children….wishing you and your family all the very best of happiness that you all so much desevere…..well done again on the win…..
Wow, what an amazing story, you are strong and dealt with everything briliantly. Tears in my eyes reading it all… Best wishes to you and your family and congrats on winning..
tks for your v kind comments everyone – to be honest when i was writing it i had tears as well & got emotional about it. but felt it was like a release, in a healthy way! 🙂
no prize just recognition for the story & a nice sophisticated glass award for my mantelpiece!
tks again…
missygWell done MissyG, what an amazing story. Could feel myself welling up whilst reading it. Congratulations, you definitely deserved this award.
Was at the awards ceremony today, had a lovely time!!! 
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