LOCKDOWN MIRACLE BABY
‘She’s our little fighter’
After doing the maths on when she was conceived, Bayleigh and Tim Ballantine joke that their six-month-old daughter Lainey is quite possibly New Zealand’s first “lockdown baby”. But when the wee battler grows up to hear how she came into the world amid a pandemic, it will be just one of several wild stories her parents share about her arrival.
Since finding out they were pregnant in May last year, the Ha¯wera couple have moved house twice, got married and finally brought Lainey home following an emergency flight, a risky Caesarean delivery and two months in hospital.
“You don’t realise how much your family can handle until you’re thrown into something,” says Bayleigh, 30. “I wouldn’t have thought I’d cope well, but I’ve surprised myself.”
One day, the couple will fill Lainey in on those crazy times, but they will probably start with how they met – at primary school! “Tim used to borrow my Game Boy and swap me for PlayStation games,” Bayleigh recalls.
The two reconnected while working at the Ministry of Social Development. Bayleigh, who had two children from a previous relationship (Tate, seven, and Fletcher, six), and Tim then welcomed daughter Addison in 2019, but decided to have no further children.
The family-of-five was squeezed into a small threebedroom villa when they learned Lainey was on the way. They sold up and shifted into a townhouse while getting a bigger home built. Amid the stress of moving, Bayleigh faced complications, with the couple told multiple times she had likely miscarried. She became so sick, she was hospitalised and was told Lainey’s growth scans weren’t looking good. “Then we’d go for another scan and she’d happily be kicking away. Such a rollercoaster!” exclaims Bayleigh.
Then there was juggling three young children during lockdown, plus mounting fears around Covid-19. “The pandemic had advantages because I was home more, so I could work at my own pace when I was sick, but there was uncertainty about the world we were bringing a child into.”
Covid-19 also meant the couple had to cancel their Fiji wedding, instead marrying during an intimate ceremony in O¯ akura on Bayleigh’s 30th birthday last July. “That was the best present!”
Another precious gift would soon arrive. Five nights after shifting into their newly-built home – and 13 weeks early – Bayleigh’s waters broke. Heading to Ha¯wera Hospital, she was sent to New Plymouth, then transferred via air ambulance to Waikato Hospital, which was better equipped for small premmie babies.
“It was scary because nowadays the survival rate is high for premature babies, but there’s still lots of problems they can have,” says Tim, who works for Fonterra.
While he went home and packed his bags, “terrified”
Bayleigh flew to Waikato, where medication helped delay the birth for three days. But the umbilical cord had wrapped around her neck and after Lainey’s heart rate dropped, Bayleigh underwent a Caesarean. Lainey was delivered on October 30, weighing just 970 grams and measuring 35cm long. Tim, 31, cut the cord before she was whisked into an incubator.
“That was hard. It was almost like we didn’t have a new baby because you couldn’t touch her,” tells Tim. The newborn was concealed under a mask, hat, goggles and tubes.
With Lainey intubated for one day, then put on CPAP for breathing support, it was day six before Bayleigh could hold her – a nerve-wracking moment given she was heartbreakingly tiny and attached to tubes.
On day 11, Bayleigh and Lainey flew back to New Plymouth, where they remained hospitalised through Christmas. Lainey received breathing support and doctors monitored a brain bleed.
Meanwhile, Fletcher, Tate and Addison were thrilled to finally meet their tiny sister.
Bayleigh credits Tim for being the “solo dad”, holding down the homefront, while grappling with his own worries.
“Neonatal was great for Bayleigh and Lainey, but it felt like the father gets forgotten. I found that quite hard,” Tim shares.
The pair’s families and community provided support and Lainey came home on January 4 – Addison’s second birthday.
Now six months old and weighing 4.2kg, Lainey’s having phosphate-boosting treatment, plus physio to treat torticollis, which is a problem involving the muscles of the neck that cause the head to tilt down. There’s a chance she may have cerebral palsy, which is more common in premature babies.
“The hardest thing is that the issues she could have can’t be picked up yet,” adds Bayleigh. “It’s a waiting game.”
The family is enjoying watching Lainey grow, noting that finding tiny clothing and supplies has been a challenge. Her first nappies were the size of a credit card!
“She loves to chat, has started giggling and is always smiling,” says Bayleigh, pausing as Lainey cracks a grin on cue.
“The kids help feed and play with her,” tells Tim. “Addison’s possessive. No one can touch Lainey when she’s around!”
While it’s unconfirmed that Lainey is New Zealand’s first “lockdown baby”, a child conceived when the country entered lockdown on March 25 wouldn’t have been due until December 30.
“She’s probably the first of a really huge group of babies!” laughs Bayleigh.
‘I wouldn’t have thought I’d cope well, but I’ve surprised myself’
Leena Tailor