From as young as I can remember, I have always wanted to be a mother.  I could think of nothing more amazing than spending my days looking after my baby, so when my husband and I decided it was time to expand our family, I couldn’t wait!  I had convinced myself it would take a while, so when that early present came just six days before Christmas, we were over the moon.  I was nervous going into the pregnancy, scared at any moment we could lose our baby.  Then we had our 12-week scan on Valentine’s Day, a day I will never forget.  We were told our baby was growing perfectly and I felt we were finally in the ‘safe zone’.  From that point on I couldn’t stop imagining what our life as new parents would be like, all of the things we would do and how exciting it was all going to be. I felt like the luckiest girl in the world.

I will always remember Friday 24th of August 2019 as the best day of my life!  I had interviewed for a promoted post earlier that week, and found out I got the job! Yaaas! That night, before going to celebrate my friend’s birthday, I decided to do a quick test,  just in case.  I was gobsmacked when I could see from the doorway that the test was positive!  After waiting so long and seeing so many of our friends experience the joy of becoming parents, it was our turn.  We called our baby our little turtle, because we waited so long…. but she was more than worth the wait.

1^st of April 2016, April Fool’s Day- we were in the lift of the hospital and expecting our first baby.  We were joking about how big I was going to get, and on the way to our 20-week scan.  I remember so clearly the sonographer kept screwing up her face, my husband seemed blissfully oblivious and kept pointing out things on the screen; and then we’re being told our baby’s limbs are measuring short, and she wants to get someone more senior to check the measurements.  The measurements were confirmed and we’re issued with an urgent referral to a consultant.

No one quite prepares you to get the news that something that was so viable and real growing inside of your body is no longer going to be your reality.  It certainly wasn’t something that crossed my mind that is for sure.  I was a mum already.  At the time of our first experience of baby loss, I was a step mum to ten year old, strapping, young lad and a two year old boy who kept me on my toes.  The plan was always to add to our family.  I wanted at least one more little one to join our tribe, and the ideal scenario for me was to have the children close in age.  In my mind, I was going to handle the different stages of parenthood close together.  Of course, the plan didn’t go my way.