It’s early as Mummy wakes, feeling that she has slept longer than her current wake pattern of hour by hour. She checks her phone, it’s 4am! It’s been two hours since she last used the toilet and the bed is wet – she can feel trickling but it’s not a sensation she is familiar with? She wakes your Daddy and says ‘the bed’s wet.’ She makes her way across to the bathroom, where there is another gush of water so she sits for a bit before moving toward the bathroom sink – another gush! She makes her way back to the toilet and calls for Daddy to call Birth Suite. It’s a familiar voice, one who Mummy recognises from her care with your forever baby brother, Louis. It’s midwife Kate. She could hear how scared Mummy was when she asked how many weeks, and she answered, 34 + 1! Panic had taken over Mummy’s breathing and she begins to cry. Kate reassured her that although we were early, we should come in and they would check Mummy over to be sure. Daddy tried his best to reassure Mummy, encouraging her to take deep breaths, but she couldn’t feel you and she couldn’t remember when she last had. She bends Robyn’s number one rule and dusts off the old doppler and positions the device onto her belly. Straight away, there was a throbbing noise, could be placenta? Didn’t matter, there was noise still happening in there! She repositions as the noise got louder and moved into more of a horse clopping noise – there you were! Daddy too, reassured from Charlie’s room while he attempted to wake your big brother. Still, we had to go. Thankfully Grandpa Byron was already awake and answered Daddy’s call straight away and didn’t hesitate, ‘yep, I’ll get your mother out of bed, she’ll love that!’
We were on our way, your big brother chatting away from the back seat, ‘it’s dark Mummy.’ For him, it was actually the first time observing the Christmas lights alight and he didn’t hold back his approval. ‘Oh, gingerbread man, at his house, he’s safe,’ he said, ‘da grinch Mummy!’ ‘And Christmas train has lights! Look Mummy, Santa koala!’ ‘Good job Mummy,’ he concluded as we drove out into the dark. Following a quick drop off in town, we were on the road again.
Mummy and Daddy were both terrified! And, as we travelled closer into the outer areas of Shepparton, Daddy started to struggle – we needed to pull over. Mummy began to cry – she was scared and there was nothing she could do to help Daddy. Once he returned to the driver’s seat, Daddy saw the fear in Mummy’s eyes, ‘can you get us there?’ she asked. ‘I’ll get us there!’ Daddy replied. We made it onto Graham Street, just outside the Hospital, before we stopped again. We hadn’t quite made it into the carpark – we were across the road. Daddy was on the ground again, but he eventually pulled himself together and was able to nose the car into the carpark just out the front of Emergency. We were safe and we were finally on our way up to Birth Suite, where Kate met us at the buzzer. She understood our panic and found bubs heartbeat within seconds, ‘there he is, he’s ok,’ she said. The tears ran down Mummy’s face, only this time it was with relief, not sadness. Kate hooked Mummy up to the monitor and the reassuring sounds of your strong heartbeat filled the room. You were head down and, on an angle, so Mummy had to hold her finger on the device to keep track of you, ‘he’s a shit,’ she concluded.
The doctors performed a bedside ultrasound to reconfirm everything was ok, but yes, Mummy’s waters had defiantly broken. Therefore, Mummy would need to start with a duration of antibiotics, both via drip and orally to avoid infection and the Doctors would need to do another internal examination to rule out any infection.
As things continued to calm down, Mummy was transferred across to Maternity where we were informed, she would be staying put for the remainder of the pregnancy. Mummy was also given the opportunity of bunking down into room six again – the room we had been located with your forever baby brother Louis. It was a hot room during summer, but Mummy felt comfortable there as your Daddy headed home for a rest and to pack some items she might need during the next several weeks.
While Mummy rested, she was finally given the ok for some lunch and was offered a roast – bit of an inside-joke there! And was instructed to administer her celaxan injection as normal as we seemed to be out of the labour danger zone.
How wrong we all were!!!
It wasn’t long after that, that Mummy began to feel uncomfortable and every time she used the toilet, she could feel pain in her pelvis. It didn’t last long but it would stop her in her tracks, the same as the pains she had weeks earlier. She was getting scared and she was on her own – she called Daddy. He had just got out of the shower and still needed to pick your big brother up, but he was on his way! Soon Midwife Tammy visited, Amanda too, expressing that they were on their way home, but noticing Mummy in pain and how fast things were happening, they notified the staff on duty. As preparations were being made to move Mummy back across to Birth Suite, she called Nannie. The plan had been for Charlie to return home with her and Papa, giving Daddy and Mummy time to figure out a plan for the next several weeks. Until now, there hadn’t been any rush for them to arrive.
Mummy watched out the front window as Daddy and your big brother arrived, giving them a wave as they crossed the pedestrian crossing before making their way up into Maternity.
Things seemed to move very quickly once they arrived. Daddy could see Mummy was defiantly in pain and hoped Nannie and Papa weren’t too far away as we all made our way back to Birth Suite one more time.
Once back in Birth Suite and yet another internal examination, Mummy knew you were on your way. The Obstetrician was paged and casually made her way into Birth Suite before Mummy shouted, ‘this baby is coming!’
Nannie and Papa had finally arrived. Papa took one look at the room and following Charlie’s comment of ‘baby make Mummy go errrrr!’ and ‘Mummy scared,’ he removed your big brother from the situation that was unfolding. Nannie wasn’t going anywhere and as the pushing started, Mummy’s midwife, Lydia, started to rush things along, popping in and out to update the Doctors. The pushing was the most alienated thing Mummy had ever experienced! They were telling her not to push, but it felt like someone was grabbing you from the outside of her body and yanking you away.
Mummy and Daddy really hadn’t planned to go into natural labour and it had progressed further than it ever had with your brothers. We were all scared! Finally, we heard over the load specker ‘Code Green to Birth Suite’ called, followed by, ‘Orderly to Birth Suite.’ Mummy was high on the gas and as she threw my arms up into the air, there was a few laughs as she asked ‘is that for me?’ Also commenting that the gas there must have been the good stuff!
Finally! We were on the move! The contractions were coming fast and the nurses were adamant, Mummy was not to push, however it would seem that the only baby she wasn’t allowed to deliver naturally was the one that would continue pushing his way out!
That thought was thrown when we were stopped at the door by the surgical team. Daddy comforting Mummy, telling her she was doing well and we were nearly there, before she told him to shut-up!
Turned out Mummy’s roast lunch had come back to haunt her, along with her celexane – therefore ruling out an epidural. This meant Mummy would now be put under general anaesthetic and Daddy would no longer be allowed to accompany her during the birth of their third child. But not before he was greeted by a familiar face – a face who became the comfort Mummy needed as she drifted off to sleep.
That face belonged to Mummy’s eldest cousin, Clinton. He reassured Daddy before holding Mummy’s hand as she lay on the surgical table – scared and confused. Mummy was so incredibly thankful he was there – granted she thought he was his younger brother, Brandon, which she knew made absolutely no sense! But at the time that was what she honestly believed. Mummy also recalled a very rude man, bossing everyone around, telling the staff to hurry up, to move things out of the way. He wasn’t rude to her personally, but he created a very negative atmosphere and it defiantly wasn’t a part of the playlist Mummy had planned for the delivery! Yes, she had actually been prepared and compiled a playlist for the delivery of baby number three – yet here we were, just Mummy and the surgical team. Now this horrible man was instructing Mummy to lift her head, but she was struggling, before her cousin’s kind words put her at ease. ‘I got you Maddy,’ he said. The last thing Mummy remembered as the oxygen mask was set upon her face was Clinton holding her hand.
>>>>
Two hours had passed and Mummy had no memory of the delivery. She was in recovery and being told everything was ok – you were ok, but things didn’t quite make sense yet and Mummy was asking where ‘Brandon’ was – still very clearly confused!
That was until she set her eyes on your Daddy and he reassured her you really were ok and you were waiting for us in the Special Care Nursery.
And Finally, there you were, our rainbow baby, our beautiful baby boy and you were coming in for a cuddle.
Mummy and Daddy had discussed names over and over, however hadn’t officially decided. We had been the same with both your brothers, instead heading into the hospital with a shortlist. Charlie, also Leo and Lucas. Louis, also Leo and Henry. And our rainbow baby, Leo and Archie. We had decided your middle name was to be Francis after Grandad Bale, which just left the first name – your name. The name Leo had been on our list since 2019 when Grandpa Caccianiga passed and Grandma had shared the story about how one of the Doctors had misinterpreted his name as ‘Leo’ instead of ‘Len’. The confusion was over the spelling as ‘Leonard’, but something about it sang to Mummy – it had just never quite fit – until now! And there it was, there you were, our rainbow baby, Leo Francis Byron.
Leo Francis Byron, born December 17 at 5.48pm and weighing a tiny 2.08kgs (4lb, 9oz).
'Our Little Louis' 