Lockdown baby joy
Big sister meets new arrival after a month
It was an emotional moment when two Clackmannanshire sisters separated by lockdown met for the first time at the weekend.
Mum Chelsea Searle, 32, was overcome when her six-year-old daughter Talia was finally united with new arrival Frankie-Rose, who is now more than a month old.
The baby girl was born by caesarean section 10 days early at Forth Valley Royal Hospital in Larbert on March 31, at the start of the coronavirus lockdown, weighing 6lb 2oz.
However, Talia, who has been staying with her dad, wasn’t able to meet her little sister until now.
Beaming big sister Talia meets her little sister Frankie-Rose after more than a month. The pair were kept apart by lockdown
Chelsea said: “There were a few tears from myself, and my girl is absolutely smitten with her little sister. It’s been heartbreaking for both of us.
“But now I’m settled back into home life. It’s been very lonely as it’s just been me and Frankie-Rose while Talia has been staying at her dad’s.
“Trying to get back into a routine with the baby and recovering from a c-section has its challenges. It’s not easy at all but I push through as no one else is here to do it for me.
“The whole experience from having no lockdown and living life normally, to then giving birth into a world where people are dying from a virus with no known cure is awful.
“The giving birth part was good, however, as the midwives and doctors were amazing. It’s the part when you leave the hospital that’s hard.
“Nobody in my family, other than my sister, or any of my friends have met my daughter. There have been absolutely no visitors. I can’t even get her registered. It’s been a horrible time to be bringing a child into the world. Everything has come to a stop but we have to keep going.”
Chelsea is especially is grateful to her sister Heather, however, for being her birthing partner.
“The birth was a lot better than I thought it would be,” she added. “I got booked in for my c-section so I had a week to get everything organised. I moved in with my sister so she could help me out as I’m on my own so that made me feel a little less stressed.
“The morning of the c-section
I got to hospital at 8am and was taken through to my room where I had all the usual checks. Then the surgeon came in to explain everything that she was going to do.
“I got taken into surgery first to get prepped and then my sister joined me. Everyone in the room were amazing and kept me reassured that things were going well and my gorgeous princess was born at 10.02am, tiny but healthy.
“My sister was allowed to peek over the sheet to have a look at her being pulled out of me - an experience I’m sure she’ll never forget.’’
My girl is absolutely smitten with her little sister