I’d been strong for the time James was in intensive care and the first 7 months but suddenly all we had been throughhitme.. andhitmehard
Mum-of-four Karen tells of mental agonies she went through in the weeks and months after her youngest son was born premature, 30 weeks into pregnancy
AS Karen Lynn watches her three-year-old son James jumping on his trampoline or riding his bike, she can’t quite believe how far they’ve both come.
When James was born 10 weeks early, Karen didn’t get to see him for more than 24 hours as she was also desperately ill.
When she came round after an emergency operation, having lost four pints of blood, she was terrified as she didn’t know if her baby had survived.
Karen went on to suffer postnatal depression and anxiety and felt she was a bad mum. Now, she’s well and delighted that James has no lasting health problems.
She wants to give hope to others who might be struggling with worry over a premature baby or postnatal depression.
Teacher Karen, 40, from Armadale in West Lothian, is married to learning disability nurse Ian, 37. The couple have three older children – Hannah, 10, Callum, who turns eight next week, and Connor, four – and were delighted to learn they were to have a fourth baby.
During the pregnancy, doctors discovered Karen had a rare condition called placenta accrete, where the placenta grows into the muscle of the uterus and can cause bleeding and complications.
When she went into early labour at 30 weeks in August 2013, she was rushed to Edinburgh Royal Infirmary where she was quickly put under general anaesthetic for her baby to be delivered by C-section.
There were 14 medical professionals in the room – and Karen is so grateful they managed to save both her and her son’s lives.
She said: “I ended up losing four pints of blood and needing to get a hysterectomy due to excessive blood loss and getting a blood transfusion.
“When I woke, the first thing I remember thinking was, ‘I have no idea if my baby is alive’. I remember being terrified and scared to ask in case it wasn’t good news.
“My husband told me that our little boy was in neonatal intensive care and needed help breathing but he had seen him.
“I was eventually brought to meet my son the next evening – more than 24 hours after he was born. A team of nurses wheeled my bed down to neonatal so I could meet him. I was so scared and overwhelmed by the amount of wires and machines that were monitoring and helping him breathe.”
James had arrived 10 weeks early, weighing just 4lb 2oz.
Karen said: “He looked tiny to me and so fragile as my other children had all been over 8lb each. I was relieved to see him but terrified wondering about all the wires. I was going through a rollercoaster of emotions.
“The care that we as a family received was outstanding, during his birth and after.
“But I felt hopeless and in constant fear. I’ve never washed my hands so much in my life and I remember feeling scared to even touch him through the incubator.
“It took a week before I held him for the first time. It was the best feeling but also the scariest as well.”
After 10 days, Karen was told she was well enough to leave hospital but her son would have to stay.
She said: “When you’re pregnant, you think of when you’re going to have your baby and leave together. You don’t think you’ll have to leave hospital without them. I had constant guilt my b hosp wor
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