Pride and joy
Baby boy for youngest Scot diagnosed with MND
Cuddling her new baby, a little son she was told she could never have, Lucy Lintott yesterday told of her joy at keeping a very special promise.
Elated but exhausted after 15 hours in labour, Lucy, the youngest Scot to battle motor neurone disease and the first to become pregnant after being diagnosed, revealed the pledge she had made to her partner Tommy Smith.
“I promised Tommy that I could do this, that we’d both make it – the baby and me,” she said. “He’s told me how lucky we are and how proud he is that I kept my promise.”
Lucy, 25, beaming as she held her son, little LJ, who arrived at Aberdeen Maternity Hospital at 7am on Thursday, described the emotional moment she cuddled her baby for the first time.
She said: “When he came and they put him on my chest I just started bawling my eyes out. They were such happy tears. He is pretty perfect.
“It is still very surreal. Now I understand what people say about the love you feel for your baby. I can’t really describe it. I just want to do everything for him. I’d do anything for him.” Weighing 7lb 3.5oz at birth,
little LJ is, according to Lucy, “doing amazing” and the couple hope to take him home in the next few days.
Lucy, who now relies on a wheelchair after being diagnosed with MND six years ago, said: “Tommy and I are a team. I would not have come through the pregnancy or the labour without him. There are not a lot of people who, after their partner has given birth, have to look after her and the baby and go into that knowing that they are going to have to do that.
“He is always protective when he needs to be. God knows what he is going to be like with our son. I feel sorry for the kid!”
Courageous campaigner Lucy – who has been dubbed The MND Warrior – has raised nearly £200,000 towards finding a cure for the shattering condition, despite knowing any breakthrough may not come in time to save her own life.
She said: “I always felt selfish because I wanted to be a mum. I felt like, am I being greedy because there are other people out there with terminal illnesses and it is not even an option for them?
“And I feel selfish, too, because at the moment this is a terminal illness and I may not be around as my baby boy gets older. I’d be leaving Tommy as a widower.
“But then I remember that our son is already getting a better start to life because he has parents who love him and love each other, and he has four amazing grandparents.”
Lucy was diagnosed with MND – a progressively disabling, untreatable and incurable disease – when she was just 19 and studying business at the City of Glasgow College. She had plans to work in hotel events.
She and Tommy met in their teens as pupils of Milne’s High School in Fochabers, in Moray – they later fell in love.
They have been a couple for 14 months and knew early on they wanted to be parents.
Lucy revealed: “Our baby was planned. In January last year, I went to see my doctor to find out if I could have kids.
“That was because when I was first diagnosed my sister asked the neurologist, and he said that my body wouldn’t be able to cope with it.
“That destroyed me a little bit, just because ever since I can remember I have wanted kids and wanted to be a mum, which is one of the most natural things.
“So I kind of knew it was more of a ‘no’. But with me being five years on at the time, with my MND not progressing, and getting into a serious relationship with Tommy, I wanted to know where I stood, and I wanted Tommy to know where he stood as well. It was better to find out.”
Lucy initially spoke about the prospect of pregnancy with her neurologist after diagnosis, before then being referred for an appointment with an obstetrician on May 23 last year.
“She gave me the go-ahead,” Lucy said. “I was so happy. I messaged Tommy straight away. The obstetrician was amazing. She had to research other cases to see where my MND was. There have been only five or six cases in the world of women with MND, who have either given birth or had a Caesarean section. Some of them had already been pregnant, and then they were diagnosed and had the baby.
“Tommy and I had to discuss potential complications, but between January and May we had talked about it every week. It wasn’t a rushed decision.
“What I didn’t know when I went to see the obstetrician was that I was already pregnant. We had got engaged on the Friday, May 17, last year and it looks like we conceived the following week. Although we were trying, I didn’t expect it to happen that quickly.
“We did a pregnancy test one morning before Tommy went to work and it lit up straight away. Our parents were the first to know but we put it on social media three months later when I was 18 weeks’ pregnant. Everyone was really chuffed.
“My mum and dad, like any parents, were scared. Tommy was scared as well. What worried them was that they could lose me. The doctors did not know what the outcome would be with my MND. So they took precautions. They did their research and put plans in place. I was scanned every four weeks.
“I wasn’t scared about the labour because it was out of my control and I have great doctors who have put in the work. But I was scared that, as a result of it, Tommy might lose me and I could lose him. I do not want to leave him.
“We are positive people, but we are also both realistic. It’s not as big a risk for me as it for Tommy. He can lose me. He is the one who has to deal with the aftermath if it had gone badly. I hope for the best, and I hope that the research being done will bring results. It is a race against time for me, but it’s not so much about that. I know that 5% of cases are inherited, so if my son gets it, I want there to be a cure for him, and for others.
“Since Tommy has come into my life my outlook is a lot different. Before I was scared of the future, whereas now, with him, I am stronger. Some people go a whole lifetime and never find this love with someone.”
Relieved and proud, Tommy said: “Lucy has had a rough time and endured a 15-hour labour and a bad bleed but she was incredibly brave. There are no words to describe the relief of seeing her safe – that’s the most important thing.
“I will feel more relaxed when all of the medical checks are complete and she is home. I am incredibly
proud of Lucy and so happy to finally be a family.”
Now Lucy has her sights set on the future and her wedding later this year. She said: “I have the dress, a white dress, it’s an amazing dress. My dad is going to walk me down the aisle.”
Looking at her wheelchair, which she hopes to ditch at the church, she said: “Will I walk down the aisle? Hell yeah!”
“Tommy is trying to save for a house. He stays at home with his parents. I am staying in supported accommodation until we have our own place. We can’t afford it just yet. The only thing I have asked for is a garden for the baby and my dog Zeus. It would be a dream come true to have a home together with our son.”
Support Lucy’s fundraising at lucysfight.com