He keeps on amazing usDeborah Healey was told that she would never conceive a child naturally. Imagine her delight, then, when she fell pregnant naturally on her wedding night! Her luck seemed to have changed… until her blood pressure rocketed and her baby arrived ten weeks early weighing just 3lbs.
My husband and I were told that I wouldn't be able to conceive naturally as I didn't ovulate, so imagine our surprise when, ten weeks after our wedding, I took a pregnancy test and it was positive! However, not long after, I started bleeding. It was the same day as when we were moving into a flat, so I went to the doctor on my own. He examined me and looked at my notes and said I couldn't be pregnant because of what it said on the computer. He sent me away before even doing a test. I was really scared as I did two tests and both were positive. Since it was Saturday, I couldn't really waste another doctor's time so I went to the flat and unpacked. By Sunday, I was bleeding more heavily so my husband phoned the hospital and I was booked in for an emergency scan. Monday morning, we found out I was ten weeks pregnant: so our baby was conceived on our wedding night! There was no reason for the bleeding as the baby was healthy. They had to cut the wedding ring off my fingerAt 25 weeks, I had to have my wedding ring cut off as I'd swelled up all over. I was then taken to Worcester Hospital for bed rest as I had protein in my water and high blood pressure. I was allowed home the next day on the agreement that I left work and saw a midwife every other day. At 29 weeks, I was swollen again and had a bad headache so my mum came with me to the doctor's. I had to have my blood pressure taken five times and my urine showed extremely high protein so an ambulance was called to take me to hospital. Once there, I was put on drips and told that I would be OK and nothing would happen. However, later that day, I was told I was having contractions but I couldn't feel them so I thought nothing of it. They sent my husband home for the night but, an hour after he left he was called back as my blood pressure was very high so they had to do an emergency C-Section. It was a very surreal situationTyler Stephen Martin Healey was born at 1.03am on the 5 March 2005. He was breathing by himself. I only saw the top of his head as he was taken to the special care baby unit straight away. I didn't see him again for two days as my blood pressure was too high. When I eventually saw him, it was very surreal. He was on a ventilator but, after another day, he was put on oxygen. I felt very emotional. He was being tube fed and I had to express milk, which was really frustrating for me as a few cleaners would rip open the curtains as I was expressing, which was very embarrassing. Tyler was well enough to come home when he was five weeks old and weighed 4lbs. We had moved again to a two-bedroom house as the people that let us the flat didn't want children living there. So while I was in hospital with Tyler, my husband was moving all our things again. He's a very happy babyWhen we got home everything was hectic and Tyler had lots of appointments. He is now two-and-a-half years old and has been diagnosed with a developmental and speech and language delay, which we knew would happen as he was slow to meet all of his milestones as he didn't walk till he was 22 months old and didn't sit till he was over a year. This was hard as I had developed postnatal depression caused by his early arrival. Even though he's about a year behind other babies of his age, he's very happy. He does have a very bad temper and hits out at us and himself with frustration. We have had had help from the Preschool Learning Alliance, which found Tyler a nursery and put his picture on the front cover of their new leaflet. He also attends Hansel and Gretel Special Needs Nursery. We don't know if he will catch up but he learns something new every day so it looks good. When I think of what could have happened, we have been very lucky. He didn't need any transfusions or operations and was only in hospital for five weeks: incredible since he was ten weeks early and weighed 3lbs. He keeps on amazing us and I am now over my PND as I have a wonderful son who charms everyone he meets. Deborah Healey, mum to Tyler (2 ½ years old)Where to next?
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