 I
was so relieved when I heard him cry
Maria Apps knew something wasn't right with her pregnancy before
the pregnancy test showed positive.
I knew I wouldn't go to full term
I had problems with my pregnancy with Leo almost from conception. I'd
started feeling tired and breathless before I had a positive pregnancy
test because my blood pressure went up almost immediately
. I had three admissions to hospital during my pregnancy because it was
so high. I had several scans to check the baby's growth, as high blood
pressure can slow this down but Leo was developing normally.
The medication I was put on at 16 weeks didn't work so we asked if I
could be referred to a specialist. He was fantastic and sorted out the
medication, which worked well until the PET kicked in properly.
At 20 weeks I started getting heartburn but didn't realise that epigastric
pain was heartburn so when they kept asking me if I had it I said no!
At 29+2 weeks, we went to Mothercare to order the pushchair, car seat
and cot because I knew by then that I wouldn't go full term.
I wanted to get him out
The next day, I had to go to Bath for a routine appointment and didn't
leave until after Leo was born. My protein levels were high, as was my
blood pressure. The midwife wouldn't even let me walk up to the ward.
When I was first admitted they told me that they could probably get me
to 32 weeks but, by the end of the week, they said I needed to have the
baby now.
Even though I was worried, I really wanted to get him out. When they
decided that I needed to be delivered they tried to induce me but it didn't
work. After three hours Leo had turned breech so I had to have an emergency
C-Section with a spinal block.
The staff were brilliant, especially my midwife. I didn't really feel
anything and the staff told me what was happening all along and what to
expect.
The staff gave me Polaroids of my son 
Leo was born at 3am and when I heard him cry I was really relieved. Then
one of the doctors told us that we had a little boy and he had a cleft
lip and palate: that was a shock as we had no idea. Leo was taken to the
Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) and his dad went with him to see him
settled.
I didn't get to see him until that evening at 6pm. After I was taken
to the recovery ward, Andrew came back with a couple of Polaroids that
the staff had taken for me, which was nice.
Leo was in NICU for nine weeks. They did say he might be there until
his due date or beyond but he left a week earlier. He weighed 3lbs when
he was born at 30 weeks. I stayed in hospital for a week after he was
born as my blood pressure was still a problem.
Leaving the hospital was horrible. Because I'd had a C-Section, I couldn't
drive for six weeks so I had to rely on other people to take me in and
bring me home.
Luckily I made friends with a woman who lived near me and her uncle
took us both in.
Tricky feeding
Leo contracted MRSA at four weeks (but only on his skin), which was quite
frightening, but apart from that and not gaining weight too well he progressed
through NICU without any major blips.
He struggled to gain weight and I did ask if it was worth expressing
any more as I was getting loads out but it didn't seem to be doing him
any good - especially when they fortified it! The week before we left
they said they wouldn't let us go if he didn't gain enough weight that
week: thankfully he did.
They also said they had detected a heart murmur and sometimes it can
be an indication of other problems if babies have a cleft palate so they
referred us to a heart specialist, who found nothing wrong when he did
a full heart scan.
Leo had to be fed with special bottles because of his cleft - he couldn't
get a seal because of the gap and sucking is impossible with a cleft palate.
A hard start to parenthood
It was far from an easy start. I felt really sorry for my partner as
Leo is his first child and it was not a good introduction to parenthood.
The worst time was the two weeks after we came out of hospital as I was
really struggling with expressing and feeding Leo.
He was so hungry that he was waking to be fed every couple of hours.
In the early days, it took up to an hour to feed him and then I had to
express.
By the end of the second week at home I was heading for a nervous breakdown.
I even phoned Andrew in tears one day and told him to come home because
I couldn't cope.
Within 24 hours, our Health Visitor had contacted NICU, got Leo Nutriprem
II on prescription and picked it up from Bath for me. She suggested alternating
between the breast milk and the formula but after Leo had his first bottle
he slept for six hours so I just ditched all my breast milk.
It was like having a new baby! He gained almost a pound in that first
weekend so it was obvious that my breast milk hadn't been providing him
with what he needed.
 He
runs on Duracell batteries now!
Leo is nearly six and fine now: he runs on Duracell batteries! He did
have a major setback when he had his first cleft repair operation at five
months, where he had a major post-op bleed and almost died.
He spent a further week in Bristol Children's Hospital on a ventilator
and it was worse than his first nine weeks of life. We were worried about
his second repair op (soft palate) which he was supposed to have at about
nine months.
He eventually had it at 16 months at Great Ormond Street with no complications
at all.
The experience didn't put us off having any more children, although I
was worried about having another child with a cleft and also getting PET
again. We weren't even trying when I got pregnant with Eloise so I guess
fate took a hand in that!
The whole pregnancy with her was as I remembered it from with my first
child, although my blood pressure went up at 28 weeks. Still, it didn't
make me feel unwell and was controlled by medication.
Maria Apps from Trowbridge is mum to Adam (24), Leo (5) and Eloise
(4).
Where to next?
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