| I would like 2 share my son Callum's birth story with you.I had 2 early miscarriges in a year so when I fell pregnant for the 3rd time the hospital kept a close eye on me.I had a scan at 8 weeks + everything looked fine we could see this tiny little thing that had a flashing dot which was the babys heartbeat.I built my hopes up that everything would finally be ok. At 14 weeks I had another scan Iwas so excited because I had never got this far in a pregnancy we went to the hospital full of joy but that was short lived.The hospital found that the baby had a condition called gastroschisis which is where there is a hole by the cord and the babys insides come out.Callums bowels were on the outside so we were told we had 2 go 2 Leeds General the next day because it was a bigger hospital + better equiped.We went home in total disbelief I cried all night wishing the baby would die now because I could cope thinking i might lose it when it was born after getting so far.The next day we went 2 Leeds I felt so sick + very tired from not sleeping and crying.I had another scan + was told the baby was a boy + had a good chance of surviving after he was born.I felt so happy I couldnt believe babies could actually survive this condition it sounded so painful and nasty the hospital assured me he was in no pain though + was happy.We went away with so many mixed feelings but i knew i was gonna get my baby I couldnt stop looking at the scan photos his little face looked so perfect.I had regular scans at Leeds throughout my pregnancy.I decided to get induced at 36 weeks because babys with gastroschisis that go to term seem to have more problems with the bowel dilating and swelling. The day soon came for me 2 get induced I was so excited on the morning I thought it would be so quick and I was gonna see my little boy in a few hours but I had 2 lots of pessary gel that day and nothing happened i was told it could take a few days.The next morning i had another pessary but something was wrong i was in a lot of pain + was screaming for the nurse I thought my baby was dying inside me she said nothing was wrong but noticed the babys heartbeat was slowing he was in distress.I was given pethadine 4 the pain and was told i needed an emergency ceasarean section.I was given a general anesethic because i was thrashing around with the pain still + i was so scared I couldnt stay still enough for an epidural.At 14.07pm on 15th September 1999 Callum was born he weighed 5lb 6oz he was doing ok by 16.30pm so he went to theatre for his 1st operation.I was still out of it + only came around for a few seconds i saw a photo of him but couldnt make anything out because i was so drowsy.I finally came too the next day I was in a lot of pain because my morphine had broken down during the night but i managed to see Callum in intensive care for a short time.His bowels had been replaced and he was on a ventilator he looked so small and helpless I just sat there staring at him I couldnt believe he was mine.My partner had seen Callum after his birth and said it wasnt a very nice sight he nearly passed out.Callum had another small operation on Saturday to put a broviac line into his heart which gives him all the fluids he needs because he couldnt eat he had to wait untill his bowel started working again.The next day he had his 1st milk he had it through a tube in his nose he had 0.5ml per hour and was fed on a pump.It was a very slow process putting his milk up the nurses had to aspirate it which means drawing it back up into a syringe to check if he was tollerating it some days he did then some he didnt.Callum had his 1st real bottle on the 29th it was 6ml i finally felt like a mum up untill now all I could do was change him so I felt a bit left out really.Everything was going fine untill the 3rd October i was woke early in the morning + was told Callum had a bad night he had stopped breathing 3 times so had been moved to intensive care again.Later that day he seemed ok so was moved back to his usual cot it looked like he had an infection in his broviac line so was given antibiotics for it.The next day he was back in intensive care again the antibiotics wasnt working and he had difficulty breathing again so his line was removed and he was put on a machine to help him breathe.He needed a blood transfusion overnight because his hemaglobin was low but he was also moved out of intensive care again.Callum went from strength to strength after that and on the 1st November we finally brought Callum home he was still fed by pump and we had to change his tubes but we didnt care because he was all ours.It didnt last long though because on the 11th Callum was very sick and it was bile stained so we had to take him back to Leeds he had an x-ray and it looked like we had put his tube down 2 far so it was put in right and he stayed in overnight to check he was ok.Callum was unwell all night so the next day he had more x-rays the news wasnt good it looked as though he ad some kind of blockage so at 7.30pm he had his 3rd operation he was out at 10pm.The problem was adhesive bowel obstruction which can happen after any operation.Callum was in a lot of pain for a few days I felt so helpless I wanted to help him but there was nothing I could do.We had to start feeding him slowly all over again but it went quite quickly this time which was good he finally came home again on the 29th November.Everything as gone fine since then and Callum is now 4 years old and in full time nursary he has had no other problems except the usual colds etc.He has 2 small scars 1 on his belly button (which is a bit mis-shapen) and 1 faint 1 above so you can hardly tell anything was ever wrong with him. This story was written by Cala |