But there’s one question that literally saved a life.
The life of my son, Noah.
Like many setting out to have children, it never goes quite like the movies. For those who have ended up on the IVF route, it couldn’t be further from what you imagined it to be. This was our path – 5 years of fertility treatment, hope, loss, and heartache.
Repeat. Repeat. Repeat.
By the 4th round attempt, there was no more hopeful excitement during the 2-week wait for results. It was a case of getting it “over with”. The 5am test was taken: bleary-eyed, I looked. No line – just a smudge. Failed. It was what we’d come to expect but still went back to bed dismissive but disappointed. The positive test line was a shock when we awoke!
Early pregnancy was filled with anxiety: the constant fear of another loss. It was horrific. But as time passed, we could finally dare to believe – we were having a baby.
Years of heartache and financial ruin could be set aside. And as the nursery preparations took shape, we expected the worst was behind us.
How wrong we were!
15th April 2019, Noah was born after a 40+ hour labour and a traumatic birth. But the day of discharge finally arrived with a sense of anticipation: our baby was coming home.
There’s one question that I’ve asked in my life that will never be as important ever again!
“Is his breathing okay?”
It was a stupid question. Small things have faster respiratory / heart rates: I knew that.
We were about to leave the hospital ward midday; if we had gone home, it would have been too late!
Initially someone checked and said Noah might have a bit of an infection, so gave him antibiotics. It wasn’t serious but because the hospital needed to administer another dose later, he had to stay another night.
By 5am, Noah was on life support. The beeping and flashing of the monitors were a direct contrast to the tiny, motionless body covered in wires and breathing tubes. Noah had sepsis and pneumonia. It was as serious as it could get.
Noah had to be transferred to a specialist hospital for the UK’s sickest children and we were told explicitly to “prepare ourselves” as it was a reality that our baby could die enroute. As the disconnection from his life support machine to the portable ambulance one took place, I heard the words “You have the airway, no matter what!”
Noah was taken to Leicester Royal Infirmary and remained on life support in an induced coma. Overnight we’d joined a new membership – parents of critically ill children. And from that moment, our lives would never be the same.
Thanks to the utterly brilliant team at LRI, Noah won his hard-fought battle to live his life. He celebrates his 4th birthday tomorrow. His spirit of confidence, adventure and courage form the mantra at the heart of Mapleleaf Vision:
“I help unfulfilled people who are lost or stuck at a crossroads to find their right path, so they have the courage to live a life they’ll love.”
