Team Ella join Count The Kicks

Dom and Karen’s daughter Ella Gilvarry was stillborn on the 12th November 2010.

Following the loss of Ella they wanted to do something to help other parents avoid going through what they have had to endure.

In February 2011 “Team Ella” was born.  A team of like minded people helping to raise money for charities who’s aim it is to prevent baby loss.

Dom, Karen  and their loyal “Army” of supporters have worked tirelessly to help small charities make a difference. Raising in excess of £33’000 in a year.

COUNT THE KICKS are thrilled to announce TEAM ELLA decision to join COUNT THE KICKS in an official capacity, dedicating their fundraising to help us #savelittlelives

Dom will now head up the CTK TEAM ELLA Fundraising Team as Manager, Co-ordinator and Support for anyone interested in supporting us by participating in an organised endurance event such as The Great Run & Swims, Virgin London Marathon, RIDE London 100 and many other events.

Karen will be helping us with raising awareness in The North East attending Baby Shows and liaising with professionals and other organisations to ensure our life saving message reaches each and every expectant Mother in the UK and beyond.

We are thrilled to be joining forces with such an inspirational group of people and believe this association will #Savelittlelives

For more information visit the TEAM ELLA website

I do not have any children myself and I am not aware of anyone close to me who has suffered such a traumatic event, until I met Sophia Mason. In the first few hours that I met her and chatted to her she was somebody who not only filled me with real admiration but had such a zeal and energy for everything.

Sophia was a significant person on our wedding day. She had the grueling task of doing all the hair and make up for our wedding (well the female side of the family!), and in her constantly happy way was fantastic at keeping everyone smiling and relaxed, as well as making us all look so fabulous – and all whilst she was 7 months pregnant with her gorgeous ‘Rainbow baby’!

Sophia speaks so openly about Chloe and one evening I read Chloe’s story and a lot more into the charity that she started - I was so struck by the complexities and confusion that expectant mothers must face and her really easy to understand and straight forward advice makes so many questions so clear and life saving. It is also so evident in reading of the personal stories and support that mothers have felt from Count the Kicks that this charity does more than just give advice. It has created a haven for people to have their release and share their experiences that is essential in such a horrendous time in their lives – even if it is a near miss, and sometimes just knowing that you are not the only person in that situation makes a significant difference to a mothers and couples life and their ability to cope.

I have a lot of friends who have children, or whom are expectant mothers, and I find myself asking them if they have ever heard of Count the Kicks. If they say no I seem to then go on to tell them all about it – often followed by a rather open mouthed expression as I am the last person in the world they expect that sort of information to come from! But Sofia and Count the Kicks has had such an impact on me, and if I can do anything that can help support this incredible charity then I will…including running the furthest I have done yet in the Virgin London Marathon!

The Virgin London Marathon is one of the great British sporting events, combining elite athletics, mass participation and record-breaking fundraising in one race. The course is a gruelling 26 miles 385 yards long, passing through the streets of London from Blackheath to the famous finish line at The Mall.

Bryony will be running amongst thousands of participants to help raise funds for Count The kicks  – Please help us show our support by sponsoring her – Even just £1 will help us #savelittlelives

Click here to Sponsor Bryony

£6.50 each available from www.countthekicks.org.uk

Pregnancy charity COUNT THE KICKS Launch 2013 “Beautiful Babies” Calendar in line with International Baby Loss Awareness Week (8^th – 14^th October)

The past couple of years UK press have reported a number of high profile figures effected by Stillbirth and

 late miscarriage. Pregnancy charity COUNT THE KICKS have produced a calendar celebrating featuring 12 Beautiful Babies to raise funds to help their awareness campaign. The 12 photos were picked out of 47 entered into a photo competition and the charities ambassador TV personality Michelle Heaton had the tough task of deciding the 12 winning shots. Photos include cute

“Our aim is not to scare expectant Mums by bombarding them with the staggering statistics surrounding Stillbirth but to empower them with knowledge and confidence. We want to ensure every Mum-To-Be is aware of risks and knows the importance of calling her Midwife or hospital if she is ever concerned throughout her pregnancy, we also want to highlight the importance of monitoring their baby’s movements and ensuring she is aware of what is normal for her baby so if she ever notices a change in her baby’s regular movements she will report it immediately to be assessed.” 35 year old Founder Sophia Mason from Guildford started the charity in Jan 2010 just weeks after her first baby Chloe was Stillborn. “My baby’s movements drastically reduced just a few days before her due date, but I never realised the importance of

 getting this checked, I always heard old wives tales that babies run out of space later on in pregnancy, that their movements stop because they have no room, but this simply isn’t true. Mums feel babies movements even more so later in pregnancy because they are so big, just the slightest stretch or shoulder shrug can be felt. I know how effective awareness campaigns are, look at Cot death and Meningitis campaigns – I want COUNT THE KICKS to do the same”.

There are 4500 Stillbirths in the UK and 90% of these are avoidable deaths, avoidable meaning these deaths could well have been prevented through awareness of risks, recognising signs and symptoms early and better communication with healthcare.

There are ten times more Stillbirths in the UK than Cot Death (SIDS) and Meningitis deaths.

COUNT THE KICKS 2013 “Beautiful Babies” calendars can be bought for £6.50 each from their website www.countthekicks.org.uk

Facebook.com/ukcountthekicks

Twitter @countthekicks #Savinglittlelives

High res photos are available upon request contact sophia mason on 07951880600 or email sophia.mason@countthekicks.org.uk

Annual General Meeting

Please find below the NOTICE for our second AGM to be held on 22^nd  October.

Agenda:

Welcome by the Founder of the Charity – Ms Sophia Mason

1. Apologies
2. To Appoint and re-appoint Trustee’s
3. To Sign off 2011 accounts.
4. Any Other Business
5. Closing of meeting by the Founder of the Charity – Ms Sophia Mason

Refreshments and food will be available to order at the venue and there will be an opportunity to meet Trustees and fellow Members after the meeting.

Resolutions:

We have been joined by some key members who are keen to be appointed as Trustees and will help the decision making for the Charity, in particular the three defined roles of Chair, Secretary and Treasurer. 

2 appointed Trustee’s must sign off 2011 accounts to then be filed with The Charities Commission by 31stOctober 2012.

Any Other Business

Under this part of the meeting, there will be an opportunity for Members to ask questions and put forward any ideas they may have to help the Charity.  We are looking for plenty input from our Members!

I would like to take this opportunity to thank all of our members for their support and look forward to another exciting and successful year for COUNT THE KICKS.

Kind regards,

Sophia Mason

Founder

Count The Kicks AGM Notice 2012

Count The Kicks 2011 Accounts

Dr Alexander Heazell MBChB(Hons) PhD is a Clinical Lecturer working at the Maternal and Fetal Health Research Centre which is based in St Mary’s Hospital, University of Manchester. He became interested in Obstetrics (care of women in pregnancy, labour and after delivery) after his first son, Jack, was stillborn in 2001.

After graduation from the University of Birmingham Medical School in 2000, he commenced clinical training in Obstetrics and Gynaecology. After completing his PhD thesis on placenta dysfunction in preeclampsia, he has focused his research interests around stillbirth and fetal growth restriction. He is particularly interested in the role that placental dysfunction plays in these conditions, and whether understanding the nature of such placental failure can be used to identify pregnancies most at risk of stillbirth. He has also led qualitative research projects to explore professionals and parents’ experiences after stillbirth, with a particular focus on investigations following a stillbirth.

“I am honored to be a Patron of COUNT THE KICKS awareness and research is the key to saving babies lives!”

“It was almost 12 years ago that we lost our son. We were in our early twenties and were overjoyed at the thought of becoming parents for the first time. But, at about 25 weeks into the pregnancy, to our complete shock and horror, the doctors told us our baby was stillborn.

Stillbirth is about 10 times more common than cot death. Yet people know far more about cot death than stillbirths – everyone knows about the importance of laying a baby to sleep on its back, for example.

So why the disparity? I believe it is because we are still not good enough at preventing stillbirths. Unlike cot death, which has declined dramatically, stillbirth rates are no better than they were 20 years ago. We don’t have all the answers and, in this modern age, we are very uncomfortable with that.

Both professionals and parents can be reluctant to deal with stillbirths openly – yet if this loss is not acknowledged, it can result in depression, post-traumatic stress and relationship breakdown.

In about one in four cases of stillbirth, the cause remains unknown, although research has found that substandard care is involved in a significant number of these tragedies.

One of our research projects has shown that reduced fetal movement is linked to placental problems; yet often women are accused of fussing when they say their babies are moving less. We need more funding to investigate what the best tests are for detecting women at risk. Women who have been through a stillbirth can have a two- to tenfold increased risk in their next pregnancy. It is terrifying to face another pregnancy after a stillbirth, yet we seem to have little to offer parents to reduce the risk in subsequent pregnancies.

We were lucky – we had a very good bereavement midwife, who had been especially trained to support parents like us. Sadly, this service isn’t available to many women – only about 40 per cent of maternity units have a specialist, trained midwife to help parents cope.

The support we received made a big difference. We stayed in the hospital for a day or so, in a special room for bereaved parents and spent time with our son. Taking photographs, having imprints made of his footprint, a funeral ceremony – these are important rituals for bereaved parents. My son’s ashes were scattered in a garden of remembrance. When we went home, we had support from community midwives and still saw the bereavement midwife at the hospital.

Many people never recover from a stillbirth. It is a tragedy which can stay with people forever. I’ve spoken to many bereaved parents over the years and remember meeting a woman in her nineties who had had a stillbirth 60 years previously. She had tears in her eyes as she recalled it.

Of course, over the years, things have improved. Twenty years ago, women who had lost their baby were sometimes given a live child to hold, in the belief this would help them “get over it”. In the past, a dead baby would be subject to the “rugby pass”: he or she would be scooped up by the midwife and disposed of, unseen by the mother. Women weren’t even told the sex of the child they had lost.

After my son died, my first job as part of my GP training was in obstetrics and gynaecology. I told my manager that I wasn’t up to it psychologically. He just told me to get on with it. I’m glad he did. It’s my personal experience of loss that has motivated me to do the work I’m doing; as part of a maternal and fetal health team at Manchester University I’m researching different aspects of stillbirth, looking at both prevention and support for parents.

I don’t have any other children but, at 34, I am hoping to start a family soon. But I’ll never forget my son. What happened all those years ago is something I still think about every day.”

(22/7/12 Dr Alexander Heazell was speaking to Cherrill Hicks for The Telegraph)

Reduced Movements and Placenta Dysfunction by Dr Alexander Heazell  MBChB(Hons) PhD MRCOG Clinical Lecturer in Obstetrics, Manchester Academic Health Science Centre

Predictors of Poor Perinatal Outcome following Maternal Perception of Reduced Fetal Movements – A Prospective Cohort Study by Dr Alexander Heazell  MBChB(Hons) PhD MRCOG Clinical Lecturer in Obstetrics, Manchester Academic Health Science Centre

25^th May scan day, as me and my husband nervously wait the sonographer shows us our baby and its little fluttering heart I cry with happiness I feel so lucky.

The next few weeks are a mixture of sickness and hiding my increasingly growing waistline, the sickness seems to come between 12-pm and 8pm yet I find taking my vitamins early on in the morning are helping me…. I still cant face vegetables and opening the freezer turns me green, however when I don’t have a “symptom” I find myself prodding my chest or looking at something that makes me feel sick to see if I feel sick or not (many pregnant friends assure me this is normal!)

29^th June hooray today is the day scan day vie been awake since 6am, as we arrive im instantly less nervous as I lie on the bed and the scan begins, I close my eyes until the sonographer says baby is all ok, I smile and squeeze my husbands hand the baby is very stubborn and it takes a while to get all the measurements, I am having the nuchal fold scan so it takes a bit longer to get the exact measurements but I don’t care we get to see our baby for over 30 minuets!! We leave feeling elated and im already speculating the sex, which we intend to find out!!

I had hoped that after all the worry of pregnancy that I was in for a good birth experience and I would get my natural water birth at the birthing unit and that would at least make up for the previous stresses.

Well!

About a week ago I got up and felt something wasn’t right I can’t tell you what it was I just knew I needed to get checked and be reassured. I kept putting my hand on bump thinking come on move then il know its not you but really nothing much happened. Anyway after trying everything to get bump to move I decided to ring the hospital. I had already been in earlier in the week after having a show and the midwife was lovely and told me to call if I was worried at all. Clearly the midwife I spoke to on the phone was having a bad day and after telling me my show was of “no consequence” and I would have to wait for a clinic appointment to get him checked I was now in a panick. I waddled down to the doctors and hoped someone would help me. I managed to get a same day clinic appointment and kept all my fingers crossed. However dramatic it sounds all I kept thinking of was I can’t lose him. Down syndrome didn’t cross my mind.

Strapped to the CTG relief washed over me as I listened to the familiar thump of bump but I still couldn’t feel him moving. I was sent for a scan where I watched my little man play with his toes and hammer me with kicks -but still no feeling for me.

“polyhydramnios” – the registrar said. Basically to much fluid in the womb.

Another problem.

Another soft marker for down syndrome, diabetes or nothing at all. Who knew!

Anyway my husband was already away and I had been in there 5 hours already and emotion just overtook me.

The long and short was a induction was arranged for 2 days later.

Induction day

Arriving bags packed on the induction morning I was nervous and excited desperate to meet my son but also, obviously and hopefully understandably to know what I was dealing with.

They gave me a propess pessery which I had an allergic reaction to and 24 hours later other than mild contractions nothing had much happened. Determined for my husband not to miss the birth and to relieve my anxiety it was decided they would attempt to pop my water rather than give me another pessery. I can honestly say it was horrific! I was 1cm and partially effaced. The doctor said it was the most difficult she had ever done. They decided to put me on a drip to get things moving and next thing I knew I had drips in and the contractions were going full on.

12 hours later I was still only 6cm dialated and exhausted. The consultant decided that they needed to do a section.

I don’t think of myself as a natural earth mother sort of person but after all that I just wanted to deliver my son naturally and now yet another choice was being taken away.

Going down to surgery I was so scared and my husband looked equally as scared but at least it was finally happening.

When they held my son over the screen I have never felt so many emotions hit me at once. Love, relief, fear, excitement. Then – was he normal.

“please check his hands” I whispered to my husband whose eyes were full of tears. My husband is in the army and is the most unemotional man I have ever met until I now know it comes to our baby.

“he’s perfect” he whispers back to me after the doctors are finished looking at him.

“Everything’s perfect”

I will never forget him saying that to me. Never. Ever.

1. Having a baby

2. Writing a blog

For some reason whilst laying “whale” like on the sofa at 37 weeks i thought writing my feelings about my bump and the imminent birth would perhaps make me feel better.

I’ve never wanted children, i have always been a career driven, passionate and to be honest a materialistic young woman with massive dreams however meeting my nephew last year changed all that and the fact i had started to hate my job and the person it was making me.

Anyway after a brief conversation and a decision not to start my next packet of pills i found myself pregnant. 4 weeks. Shock.

Weeks 6-11
It sounds bizarre but i never actually thought i would get pregnant, certainly not that quickly. Clutching a test in the work toilets trying to figure out if i had actually read the result right i felt absolutely sick to my stomach with fear. 
I found myself with extreme sickness pretty much straight away, i couldn’t keep anything down at all. I knew about morning sickness but nothing could have prepared me for just how ill i felt. Eventually i found myself at the doctors in tears begging for tablets which eventually he gave me along with several weeks off work with Hyperemesis Gravadium. Work were not supportive and in between doing test after test after test to make sure i was ‘still’ pregnant i found myself feeling very very low. At 9 weeks i paid for a private scan – i had to see evidence and when i saw the tiny baby speck on the screen instead of feeling better i just felt more scared!
 
Weeks 12-16
 
When my scan date came through just before christmas i felt frightened that i had dreamt the whole thing but i couldn’t wait (secretly) to see how baby looked and i hoped it would relieve my fears of miscarriage passing the magic 12 week point.
 
I remember laying on the bed and waiting to see baby pop up on the screen and i have to admit it was amazing i finally felt for a split second that everything was ok.
No one had really discussed the nuchal test with me, i had read briefly about it in the leaflets i was given at my booking appointment but that was it. However i knew something was up when the sonographer was trying to measure the baby. I started to panic as i had read that the cut off (at our hospital) was 3.5mm and she was struggling to get the baby into a position that was giving her a proper measurement. After faffing for a while she came out with measurements at 3.0mm to 3.7mm. At this point i was feeling quite distressed that something was wrong with my baby.
 
We sat for about 2 hours waiting to see a consultant who re scanned me over and over. It was (in hindsight) fascinating to see the baby in so much more detail and he did some new measurements – none of which were over 3.5mm. He told me i could leave to use the loo and i remember happily going along the corridor thinking ‘good, things are normal’
 
I didn’t expect that when i went back into the room he was going to not only tell me about the increased risk of down syndrome but about Edwards syndrome and Pataus and all the other horrific things i needed to be prepared for. I hadn’t even had the blood test yet that is required to give a combined risk and there were no other markers to suggest that baby had anything wrong.
 
I was sent for my blood test and told about CVS and amniocentesis and that was it. I left feeling absoloutely devastated. Even though his measurements were normal it seemed that didn’t matter.
 
On Christmas eve the consultant called me and his exact words to me were ” obviously you are high risk” – why obviously i thought, what does that mean? He told me I had a 1 in 100 chance of the baby having down syndrome and when should he book me in for a CVS. I had already decided i wasn’t having one, i couldn’t understand how a 1% chance of miscarriage was low yet my 1% chance of having a baby with down syndrome was high.
 
Christmas was pretty rubbish and i felt very negative and confused about this little life inside me. Things went over and over and over in my mind and for a couple of weeks it was all i talked to anyone about. The way i saw it was there were only 3 outcomes
 
1. I had a healthy baby and everything was ok
2. I had a healthy baby that i miscarried
3. I had a baby with a chromosome problem
 
I would never have a termination so i stuck to my guns and my husband supported me. We would love this baby no matter what.
 
Weeks 16-20
 
At 16 weeks i was sent another appointment to see the consultant for what i thought was another scan to look for soft markers now the baby was bigger.
When i entered the room there was 2 doctors, 2 midwives, a nurse and one other man who i have forgotten his job role – all primed to give me an amniocentesis despite me telling them on several occasions i did not wish to have invasive testing. I sat down already feeling very sick and then spent half a hour telling these doctors they were not going to stick a needle in me. I remember putting my hands on my tiny bump promising that little life that i would not let any harm come to it and that no matter what we would find a way forward.
 
They agreed just to rescan me and laying on the table once again i felt very scared and emotional and somewhat guilty that i might have created something that wasn’t perfect. I have never failed at anything in my life and to have any sort of imperfection just didn’t sit well with me. The whole experience was horrible and the doctor didn’t speak to me but to all the other staff there. Long words and jargon i didn’t understand kept flowing with the odd ‘normal’ thrown in for what seemed like forever. My husband held my hand. I knew he was anxious but he would never show it. Every time ‘normal’ was muttered he gave my hands a squeeze. I’ve never felt more in love with him and in awe of him than at that moment.
 
At the end of the scan we were told that the nuchal fold was looking normal and there were no other soft markers. Relief began to sweep over me until we were told that that of course did not mean he wouldn’t have a disorder and that the only way to tell was invasive testing but that our chances were very good ‘if’ i got to 20 weeks.
I don’t think anger is a strong enough word to describe my feelings at that point.
 
At 20 weeks we saw the consultant again to be told our little boy still looked normal. I actually ignored everything else i was told during that appointment so i couldn’t tell you what was said.
 
Weeks 20-37
 
At week 18 i finally stopped being sick. I finally started to feel my little boy moving. I finally started to feel pregnant. I finally thought this is actually going to happen. I finally stopped thinking about having a baby with down syndrome and just about having a baby. I had a bump and i was going to be a mummy.
 
I decided that after all the sick and stress and worry i was going to take all my annual leave upfront and leave early. So i did.
 
I had almost forgotten about the scans and worry etc until i watched one born every minute and it was the episode where the parents knew the baby was going to have a cleft lip. When the baby was born the mother looked ( in my opinion) very hard at the babies face and i don’t know why but it made me feel really emotional. I started to wonder about how i am going to react when our son is born. Do i ask if he’s normal? Will i tell? What should i do?
 
 
Thoughts began to whirl once again and luckily at my ante natal class we were told about the checks that are done on ALL babies after birth. That put my mind at ease and i decided that i wouldn’t need to ask any more questions. My little boy was going to be treated as normal until evidence proved different.
 
I went along to my next midwives appointment happily everything sounded and looked great. I was waiting for her to write in my notes as normal until she said to me ‘thats unusual’.
 
What now!!!!!!
 
I had screened positive for antibodies. I asked her what that meant and she briefly explained it to me. I felt my heart deflate with disappointment and it went further down when she said to me that the hospital had lost my blood report so they didn’t know the severity of the anti bodies and what implications that would have on me or my baby. I went home and did something stupid. I googled it.
 
I  spent the next 2 days reading about inter-uterine blood transfusions and worrying. Then my mum had a heart attack. Bugger.
 
I then got a phone call saying my report had ‘turned up’ and no further action was required just that he would need his cord blood testing at birth.  Relief once again.
 
 
Now!!
 
I’m now 37 weeks pregnant. Apart from being tired and feeling hot and heavy i am hopeful that the next 3 weeks pass without event….other than birth of course!
Obviously i hope my little one is healthy and isn’t suffering from down syndrome or any other ‘abnormality’ but if he is then i’ve already accepted it the best I can.
 
Being pregnant – as much as i can’t wait for it to be over and to start life as a mummy has taught me more about myself and how i feel about life and my family than i have learnt in my whole life to date.
 
Money, work and material things aren’t important because when you have a little life kicking away, depending on you nothing is more important. I have never felt so fiercely protective over a little person i have not even met yet. The love and support i have had from my family and my husband is worth more to me than a million promotions.
 
When i see his little face in a few weeks time, no matter what, he will be loved more than anything else in the world.
 

See the update Bump Blog “Trusting Your Instinct“

The Early days:

Weeks 4-12

I found out I was pregnant with my 2^nd little bundle on Monday 19^th March… as soon as that line appeared the world just kind of paused and all the background noise of my crazy toddler sounded like it had gone under water! I was so ecstatic I could have burst. I took pictures of the test as the line went from hardly there – to a screaming red line and as every minute passed I smiled just that little bit wider!

I laughed hysterically down the phone to my husband who was at work & then went on to call the doctors and book myself in with them – and then panicked!

A million OMG’s whizzed round my head, the what if’s and the worry and the fear gripped my throat and I felt like screaming… but then the sheer elation of the fact I was pregnant crept back and I laughed out loud as I played with my toddler on her bedroom floor, reading books and building towers for her to smash down! I was pregnant and I wanted the world to know it!

With my first pregnancy I was exhausted from the moment I conceived until around 10 weeks, but never once had nausea or sickness!

This time however, the nausea has really knocked me for six. The actual sickness didn’t start early on, but the nausea has been a real struggle. I’d lost half a stone in weight and literally could only stomach water in small doses. Just driving my little one to nursery was becoming impossible as motion would really set me off, so I practically laid on the sofa feeling sorry for myself for weeks. By week 12 I’d had enough and went to the doctor about it and he gave me tablets to help with the nausea so I could just do everyday things again – and as if by magic it eased over night. I’m still being physically sick but the nausea comes in waves instead of the constant stream like before and I can cope with it!

 I’d had lots of pain down one side of my stomach that was taking my breath away and leaving me doubled over so I called the ANDU who rushed me in for a scan at 5+5 to check the baby was where it should be and rule out ectopic and thankfully all was well and I could see a little heart flickering away on the screen – it was amazing! They put the pain down to scar tissue from my previous section.

I booked in with the consultant at my hospital at 7+5 and was assigned shared care between hospital midwives, community midwives and consultants and then at 8 weeks I saw my community midwife, who didn’t make the best first impression on me but hopefully things will change now I’m further along and doing ok.

I’ve been having heartburn since around 9 weeks so I’m guessing I’m going to suffer again with that little pregnancy gem!  My hormones are pretty impressive already too! My poor husband!!

My 12 week scan arrived finally and there we saw our baby dashing around on the screen and refusing to sit still for measurements and winding the sonographer up a treat – which I was quite amused by as she was a grump!

And then we announced to the world our news!

Weeks 13-16

We decided to take a well deserved family holiday and had some time to really let the thought sink in that by Christmas we would have 2 kids! As much as its quite a scary thought for me, I’m just so excited to hold my scrunched up newborn baby in my arms and soak up that feeling again. My daughter grew up so fast I feel like I dozed off and missed half of it!

We stayed team yellow with our first but this time I’m too excited to wait and have booked a private gender scan so we can have that extra special glimpse of baby that you don’t get at screenings… and then we can argue about names!

I’m strangely relaxed this time. I’ve steered away from websites and groups that caused me so much worry first time around and I’ve just gone with the flow and I am hoping things stay as they are and I can relax and enjoy being a raging, tired, hormonal mess – I just want to feel those first little flutters now and wear my kick counter with pride!

I had yet another un-eventful, happy, healthy pregnancy. Well when I say uneventful, I mean in terms of the pregnancy, however me being me things are never “un-eventful”!

After loosing Chloe I was determined to  stop other parents and families going through such an ordeal, within a few months I had launched COUNT THE KICKS which by now had really picked up momentum. I was  being interviewed and photographed for magazines and newspapers, attending lcountless meetings with the Royal Colleges and even the department of health, speaking at MSLC Group meetings, going to colleges and presenting to sometimes hundreds of Midwives and students also attending big Baby Shows, working flat out to promote the charity.

The best thing was, almost everyday I read messages of thanks and support for the work COUNT THE KICKS were doing. We have an amazing team helping me and we were helping to save little lives,  this made all my pain, heartache and hard work so worth while.

Throughout my pregnancy I made an effort to attend as many of my local SANDS meetings as I could, it gave me a chance to vent my fears and frustrations and spend some time thinking about Chloe. I soon realised I had been given such a gift, COUNT THE KICKS was giving me so much strength and positivity, evrything I had learned about risks in pregnancy, and the symptoms to look for, all the hints and tips I had picked up. I was oozing with confidence – This time I was bringing my baby home!

I recieved the most amazing care, The Royal Surrey County Hospital antenatal team were fantastic, always on hand if I had any worries, luckily I had become good friends with Claire the Senior Midwife who delivered Chloe, she was thrilled about our imminent arrival and was there every step of the way for me. I was concerned at the beginning that I didn’t want to have the same Community Midwife as before, not because of anything she’d done, but just because I would have had to re-live every visit in the same room going through the same things as I did with Chloe. Claire recommended her friend Annie and arranged with the head of Midwifery for Annie to take over my Community care, I was so lucky, Annie was amazing! Literally every week she would pop round my house to quickly listen to “Berts” heartbeat. It was so reasuring.

We had agreed a plan with our consultant very early on in the pregnancy, we saw the same Consultant as we had with Chloe, I felt this was important as he knew our history and seemed to understand my concerns. He was also very supportive of COUNT THE KICKS, which meaned a lot to me!

We were due to have a planned C-Section at 37 weeks, we were booked in and today I was due to visit the hosptital antenatal clinic for my second shot of Steroids, to ensure “Berts” lungs were mature enough.

I woke up early as usual, Dan went off to work and I went about my usual morning duties of opening the post and checking emails. It was when I sat at my desk “Bert” would always have a wriggle, but today nothing.

I remember sitting back and rubbing my bump…… nothing.

My heart started racing, I stood up and walked around, I started running a bath and poured a cold drink….. panic was starting to set in, please God not again!

I tried really hard to stay calm, stopped the bath. “What do I say to everyone… Call your Midwife – Call your Midwife!” I told myself.

“Annie” I burst into tears. “Annie the baby wont’ move!”

As always she was amazing. It was her day off and she was in London with her daughter, but she calmly said “Soph, you know what to do, call Dan and go straight to the ward. Come on love you know what you have to do”.

Dan must have been on a shout as his voicemail came on “Dan the baby won’t move – I’m going to the hospital. Call me”. By this time I was shaking from head to toe. Please God not again.

I called the ward and my friend came straight round and drove me straight there. I found myself taking the same walk as before, slow motion, taking forever, trying not to scream. This couldn’t be happening again, please. I had done everything right this time. Please not again.

When I got to the ward they whisked me straight into a cubicle, sat me on the bed and the Midwife got the doppler, she knew who I was, they all did. They all knew I knew the drill “Sophia stay calm, it may take a few moments for me to find the heartbeat, ok”.   ”Please try to stay calm”.  But literally as soon as she touched my skin there it was, my baby was alive!

I sobbed, massive loud uncontrolable sobs, I couldn’t breath through the tears. My baby was alive!

It was about 11am by this time, I was strapped to the monitor watching “Berts” pulse, but I still wasn’t happy. He still hadn’t moved all morning, and I was getting this pain in the top of my Right hand side, each time I felt this pain “Berts” Pulse dipped. I was watching, my Mum was with me – she was watching and I know the Midwives were too.

The ward was filling up and a couple of times I was asked if I’d like to go home, and then pop back if I’m concerned, but no way was I taking this monitor off, not until my baby started moving. But still nothing.

My consultant came on duty that evening and luckily so did Claire. They both sat with me and Dan and went through my notes, I explained about the pulse dipping with each pain, I could see the consultants mind working. Claire was so supportive and stayed with us as much as she could.

Throughout the eveinging the pains started increasing and with each pain “Berts” pulse dipped even more.

It was 10:30 and Dan was getting ready to go home, suddenly Claire and the consultant walked into my cubicle wearing their scrubs…. “Right you two” Claire said calmly… “We think it’s time we all met this baby!”

To be honest I can’t really remember what I thought or what went through my mind, before I knew it Dan was dressed in scrubs, I was in a gown and the Anethetist was asking me all their questions, in no time at all I was lying in the theatre, I remember the door opened and in rushed Annie “I wasn’t going to miss this guys!” she sang, and I heard the consultant say, “Right Sophia you might feel some tugging and pushing…..”

The next thing I knew Claire said “Dan look, look!” she was holding up our baby to show him…… “It’s a BOY!” he said quietly, “We’ve got a boy Soph!”

George William Wyatt was born at 23:11 on 18th May 2011.

A fit and healthy 6lb8oz

The following day we were told he had stopped moving because my Placenta was failing.

I had followed my instinct, listened to everything I had learned, and called my Midwife.

Dan and I took George home the following week.

George is the proof – Awareness really does save lives!