I was booked in for a planned c-section under general anaesthetic on the 23rd August 2017, excited to meet my baby boy, yet also terrified with the fact i was going to have to be put to sleep and not being able to see his first moments. He was born at 12:35 weighing a healthy 8lbs 3oz and he had a full head of hair! We always knew there was a chance he would have to spend a couple days in the NICU due to me being on a low dose of oramorph throughout my pregnancy for the chronic pain brought on by my Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome. Unfortunately, things ended up going a bit pear shaped and the couple days meant to be spent on the NICU turned into 9 gruelling days.
After he was born, he was struggling to breathe due to a little bit of fluid on the lungs. During a normal labour a baby wouldn't necessarily have these difficulties, but unfortunately he struggled trying to cough it up and because he had the general anaesthetic as well, he was very tired, and exhausting himself by trying to breathe and ended up turning blue. They made the decision to call the crash team as they thought the best decision would be to intubate him, which lasted for 48 hours. While all this going on, i was having my own difficulties. They expected me to only be in recovery for about an hour, two at the max. I ended up spending EIGHT hours in recovery, as my SATS kept dropping and my heart rate and blood pressure were all over the place. I didn't eventually get to see my son until 11pm that evening! The first photo i saw of my son was with tubes coming out etc and it was terrifying. Eventually i was put on to a ward with other mothers who had just had their babies. All these mothers had their babies around them, where as i had to travel down to sit with him in the NICU numerous times a day. Leaving him to go back up to the ward was so hard and really made me feel so low.
After 4 days, they eventually sorted out a room for me with him on the NICU where i stayed with him and looked after him, but where the doctors and nurses could still treat him. He was on IV antibiotics for suspected Sepsis (which thankfully he did not have!!) and on a weaning program as he ended up having some withdrawals when it came to the oramorph. It was the best feeling in the entire world when we were finally able to bring home and be out of the hospital. Considering we had an incident where they were giving him pre-made formula milk that was a good couple months out of date, so trust me when i say, i was so happy to be home!
We finally decided on the name Hadley Peter Neil Cook for our little bundle of joy. My partner, George, really liked Henry, but i wanted something that wasn't as common and we settled on Hadley which suits him perfectly, he's definitely not a Henry. His middle names Peter and Neil are after 2 very special people. Peter was one of my best friends who unfortunately died last year due to a rare form of cancer. I know he'd of been so happy for me and 100% would of been totally involved in Hadley's life so this way he still kind of is, and Neil is George's dad, so Hadley's Grandchild - his first one actually! Cook is George's surname, so it was only right that it was Hadley's too, and hopefully one day mine (hint, hint!!)
Now at nearly 3 months old, Hadley is a healthy thriving baby boy, and he is such a happy child! Constantly smiling and giggling away. He's already trying to sit himself up and is definitely going to be an early walker as he loves trying to stand up and be all tall. He's also teething too! I think he may also be a chatterbox just like his mother as he's babbling away (i'd love to know what he's trying to say)
All in all, i genuinely couldn't be happier, and i feel so blessed to have him. After a long battle with anorexia, i wasn't actually entirely sure if i would be able to have children, as i spent a long time without periods and only prayed that my fertility was okay. Luckily it must be and i'm so happy that i'm a mum. As exhausting as it is, i wouldn't trade it for the world. I love him so much and currently feel like the luckiest girl in the world.
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