Hi, my name is Siobhan Glynn and I am 24 years old. I am a full time carer to our daughter Olivia. Over the past few years we have unfortunately had 2 miscarrages along with 1 ectopic pregnancy which resulted in me loosing a tube.
Olivia has cerebral palsy due to being born early. Cerebral palsy is a neurological condition where part of the brain gets damaged, before, during or after birth. In olivia's case it was after birth due to her being so poorly in hospital. I have a fiancé called Lewis who I have been with for almost 6 years. We've had our ups and downs like all relationships but have come out the other end and are stronger than ever.
My pregnancy with olivia was absolutely amazing. Had no morning sickness, no real symptoms apart from feeling tired all the time but it probably didn't help that I was working 3 jobs at the same time. 17.05.2016 the day olivia was born I had my normal 28 week midwife appointment where she noticed that her heart rate was inconsistent. My midwife had told me it was nothing to worry about and just assumed it would be cord compression however she sent me to the hospital to get checked over just to be on the safe side. My mum, myself and lewis went to the hospital where I was monitored for a good 6/7 hours. Olivia wouldn't stay still to get a long enough reading on there machines however they picked up that she had a hole in her heart....again nothing to be concerned about. So, around 7pm that night they were willing to send me home. After much discussion they chose to put me back on the machines to monitor me more. Around 10pm they chose to keep me in over night as olivias heart rate was still inconsistent. At around 10.45/11pm they choose to rush me in for an emergency c section as olivias heart rate was still very low. As anyone could imagine our minds were all over the place and we expected the worse. Our little girl that we had planned was going to be here much earlier than expected. At 11.27pm weighing 3lb 2oz our tiny bundle of joy had arrived very very poorly and needed a lot of assistance. I had to be put to sleep due to everything being such a rush so I never got to see Olivia until the following morning. After 45 minutes of the doctors and nurses trying to revive Olivia, Lewis spent the night with her once she had gone into ICU. Olivia spent 10 weeks and 2 days in hospital where she had thousands of needles, 5 blood transfusions and many xrays, whilst all this was taking place she was still having to grow and develop just like any other baby would be doing inside the womb. We had a few frightening scares with olivia where we almost lost her a few times due to sepsis and NEC however she has come out the other end and is stronger than ever. Fast forward 4 years and Olivia has come on leaps and bounds. She is a full time wheelchair user and relies on myself for care. She can crawl and roll around on the floor and is very independent with the things she can do. She is a strong willed little girl who takes rubbish off of no one haha!
I absolutely love everything about being a mother. It has brought so much love and light into my life that I never knew I needed. I love each milestone olivia hits and how excited and proud she is of everything she achieves. I love how I'm the first person she wants when she is poorly and when she wants lots of snuggles of an evening.
If I'm honest there's a lot of challenging things about being parent but I guess that comes as part of the package. I think when the terrible 2s kick in and you are receiving tantrum after tantrum. Speaking from experience with Olivia when she is naughty I know I get the brunt of it all as I'm with her all the time and I am who deals with her the most. Sometimes it feels like nothing you do is good enough especially as they get older and sometimes it just feels as if you never get a moments peace to yourself.
If I'm honest, the one thing I can honestly say I'm proud of is how I've raised olivia. If I could go back and give myself advice I would tell my pregnant self not to be so scared about becoming a mummy and its going to be the best thing that will ever happen to you.