Almost exactly 2 years after the birth of our Angel, Henry, our little miracle named Harrison (Harry) came into our world...
We began to feel ready to try for another child around midway through 1996. We were fortunate in that we still were in contact with our donor via our advocate. He was once again willing to give of his precious time and energy to help us achieve our dream.....(Did I mention that we think this man is a living saint!!)
We began artificial insemination and after conceiving in the first month with Henry, we figured that we would be in the same situation this time... WRONG!! It actually only took us four attempts... and I realize that for couples with infertility problems that this is no time at all.... But for us
after having Henry taken from us sooo soon.... we felt a day without a child in our arms was like an eternity.
Finally in the beginning of November I realized that my cycle was late!! I went to my GP and he confirmed that wonderful diagnosis - I was PREGNANT!!
We were elated.... but at the same time... we were also terrified. Any parents of children that have died will tell you that subsequent pregnancies are what nightmares are made of!!
We were told that our due date was around early June. I simply could not imagine ever reaching my due date!! Considering that I had what was now termed a "High Risk Pregnancy", I was
sent to an amazingly talented Doctor who specializes in problem pregnancy and endocrinology (Blood).
This truly marvelous man is wholly and solely responsible for the little man who is now the light of my life... and probably for saving my life as well.
I was diagnosed by this Dr who I am sad to say I can't name (for I would love to give him grand recognition), with not one but two blood disorders that cause you to be very prone to blood clotting.
We now know that had this simple blood test been done routinely in my pregnancy with our Angel, he would probably be here with us now... Luckily for us though the test was done in our second pregnancy and I was told that in order to make it to full term, I would have to have twice daily blood thinning injections (self administered) until shortly before my due date.
Now, I'm sure that this sounds horrid to those of you that have never lost a child. But to those of us that have, this was a small price to pay in order to gain such a gift...
It was deemed that a blood clot in my placenta was probably what caused the early onset Pre eclampsia in Henry's Pregnancy...... SO MANY "IF ONLY'S"... :(
So, I slowly began to pass through the agonizing journey to my due date... I had 6 ultra sounds in total... and we learnt of our beautiful baby's sex at 18 weeks. WE HAD A BOY!!! We had decided to find out purely because we felt that we could begin to bond with our new cherub long before his birth... once again because we could never really imagine that we would get to 40 weeks... let alone have a live baby to bring home...
Unlike my first pregnancy, we didn't even attempt to get the babies room ready until almost 33 weeks. It was just so painful to pack everything away when we lost Henry...When we finally did complete the nursery... it was purely divine... so angelic and beautiful... with a traditional bassinet, and teddy theme.... it
was gorgeous... I would spend hours in there gently caressing my belly talking to the little man we had already named Harrison...
As we passed by 24 weeks, then 28, then 32 weeks... we began to "let" ourselves become excited... a group of dear friends organised a lovely baby shower for us... and Harrison was thoroughly spoilt!! :)
That's not to say the anxiety of yet again suffering devastation was not with us.... it never left our minds... its just that the positive side of life crept back into our souls... and we couldn't fight it... it was a breath of fresh air.
We had many trips to our local ER to check for a heartbeat... and I had my blood pressure checked very regularly, along with my urine for protein....
******* PLEASE MAKE SURE THAT YOUR DR ALWAYS CHECKS BOTH
YOUR B/P AND YOUR URINE... AS IT IS POSSIBLE TO DEVELOP PRE ECLAMPSIA WITHOUT HAVING RAISED BLOOD PRESSURE!!********
Just after midnight on the 26th May 1997 (4 weeks prior to my due date) I began to sense dull cramps. They weren't painful but were very regular. Because of the gestation (36 weeks) we were told to come into the hospital to check if it was true labour and for a non- stress test.
THIS WAS THE REAL THING ALRIGHT!!! We were soooo excited... I was allowed to labour for almost five hours... and then I was wheeled down to theatre to have a spinal block inserted for the Cesarean. (I strongly recommend this option when having a C/Section... it means you can't feel a thing, but you are able to witness the breathtaking birth of your baby)
It was at around this time that I turned to my partner Mandy and said... "I'm going home now, I've changed my mind, I don't think I really want a baby!!" I guess you would say I had pre op nerves!! Or is it "Pre Mummy" nerves!! I guess after all the years of struggling to achieve our dream... I couldn't
believe it was about to come into fruition... :)
And so........... at 8.07 am on the 26th May 1997, our gorgeous little man, Harrison Hamlin was delivered weighing a wonderful 7 pd 4 oz (3280gms) and 50 cms long... keep in mind that he was 4 weeks prem !!! Imagine what he would have weighed at full term!
We are now four years down the track from Harry's birth. He is in the 97th percentile for both height and weight, and is more beautiful than my words can express...
His greatest loves in life (next to his family) are his bike, skates and skateboard!!!
He loves The Rugrats, Toy Story, Humphrey Bear, Bear in a Blue House, Elmo,
The Hooley Dooley's and millions of others... too many to name...
He has just started pre-school and is making many little pals :)
Harry's bestest friends names are Joshua, Mitchell, Colby, Liam, Kieesha and Sinchai.
Harrison is truly the absolute light of our lives.... he has a loving Nanna, Pa, Nan, Grumps, Grandma, Grandpa and Nan and Pop. He also has adoring Aunt's named Fay and Fran and Uncles named Richard, Tony, Neil,Peter, Mark and David.... His cousins names are Jeffrey, Matthew, Ben, Jane, Genna, Amy, Stacey and he has four other cousins named Jared, Hilda, Lucas and Ben that he is yet to meet!!
He is loved beyond the universe.... and we wish beyond wishes that he will live a full and happy life full of good health and plenty of warm love......
WE LOVE YOU TO THE MOON
AND DOWN AGAIN...
AND AROUND THE STARS
AND BACK AGAIN...
These are "The Wiggles"...
Harry's favourite guys in the whole
wide world!!
This simply wouldn't be Harrys page without them!
Click on their emblem to visit their site :)
All of these graphics are copyright to The Wiggles..
To see more photos of Harry and his family and friends... just click on the "Photos button"!!
ENJOY!! :))))))