K Morgan-powell
Debbie & Richard's page
Fundraising for Towards Tomorrow Together
Story
Isaac Robert L'Herroux was born on Wednesday 12th March at 11.26 pm weighing 4 lbs 11 1/2 oz.
He was taken from us before we heard his first cry or looked into his beautiful eyes.
I was taken in to hospital on Wed 12th March with extremely low blood sugar levels. After having blood tests they realised something was very wrong.
I remember being taken into a small room for scan and being told that they could not find baby's heartbeat, we were devastated.
They arranged for me to have a C-Section.
I have vague flashes of memories but nothing lasting more than a few seconds at a time. When I woke up it was the middle of the night, it was dark & I had no glasses so I couldn't see properly, it was 2.30 am and I was told that Richard would be back at 6.30 am to see me.
I thought I had just woken up from having the C-Section however, I had been in a coma for a week.
When Richard came he was so happy to see me awake and relatively with it. I can't tell how I felt seeing him for the first time, I never wanted him to leave my side again. He explained everything that had happened.
There were 5 consultants looking after me as they were not sure what was wrong and what was going to happen next.
I had suffered from something called Acute Fatty Liver Disease of pregnancy, this had resulted in liver & kidney failure (this affects 1 in 20,000 women), abnormalities in clotting of the blood. On top of this I had a sepsis infection (1 in 3 people die from this), I had pneumonia and they also drained 1500 ml of infusion fluid from around my lungs. 5 days after delivery I developed Pre-Eclampsia, I had CT scans as there was a fear that there was brain damage but thankfully this was not the case. I also had 2 blood transfusions and 16 bags of platelets. My case and the combination of problems I had is so rare everything that happened to me is now going to be in text books & studied.
It was so very close for me, the hospital did the most amazing job but unfortunately it was too late for our baby. I was 35 weeks pregnant on the day we had him and I was due to have him at 38 weeks.
I finally got to meet my baby on Monday 24th March, 12 days after he was born, he was perfect. We decided to call him Isaac Robert L'Herroux (Robert after my Brother).
We were given a memory box by the hospital which was donated by a charity called Towards Tomorrow Together, they provide resources to hospitals enabling bereaved parents to make precious memories with their babies in the short time that they have. This includes providing butterfly boxes full of gifts to help make precious memories and cuddle (cold) cots, giving parents the opportunity to spend as much time as they need with their baby.
They also provide support groups for anyone who has been touched by this and from experience it is so good to have the support of people who know exactly how you feel.
Because of charities like this I was allowed to meet my baby by providing cold cots to the hospital. The thought of not being able to meet and cuddle Isaac had this not been available would have been unbearable.
The butterfly boxes are so lovely, they include a blanket, hat and booties which Isaac was dressed in as soon as he was born. An SD card so we could take lots of pictures of him to keep his image real and share with family & friends like all proud parents do. Hand and footprints & a clay mould. Little bracelets, which he wore until the day before his funeral, these will be given to his Brothers Jacob & Noah when they are older so they have a direct link to him. There were also 2 teddies, one which has stayed with him and one for us to keep. There were so many other things in there too that have brought us comfort and it's so sad to think that people who have been in our position have sat and thought so carefully about what would help other people in that situation.
It really has brought us great comfort and will for years to come, therefore we would like to try to raise some money for this wonderful charity.
It costs around £30 for each butterfly box and it's contents and I would love to donate as many as we can in Isaac's name.
Anything you can spare would be greatly appreciated even if it's just £1.
Thanks for taking the time to visit my JustGiving page.
Debbie, Richard, Jacob & Noah xxx
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