Of Coddled Eggs and Kings

Matilda and the Belly o Ramas....

Today is the most special day .
Matilda Betty turns Five .
It is such a significant event because the surety that we would ever have this little girl in our lives was not always as certain as we would have liked to believe.

When our eldest daughter Anna sent a video of her and her sister playing at being their alter ego's (Gale and Lesley Scientific Botanists), I was in for a huge surprise.
The video was about the discovery of a Belly o Ramas. Identified through a urine sample on a stick.It took a minute to digest that this particular episode was in fact Anna letting me know she was having a baby.
The excitement was palpable .

You know that there are moments in your life that you dream of and one was to have my daughters become mothers.
It is so different with your daughter than with your son's .
The excitement soon turned into trepidation when it was discovered that all was not as it should be.
A scan at 19 weeks revealed the little baby had a giant omphalocele and that the membrane was ruptured.
To this day the word membrane gives me that sinking feeling in my stomach.

It was Anna and her husband Lachlans' (Lox) wish that the sex of the baby not be revealed.
It was also their adamant wish and choice that the pregnancy continue and not be terminated.

It was an anguishing time waiting for test results but throughout the process the entire family held fast to the belief that this little baby was strong and resilient and was going to survive.

I had dreamed of this baby, a little girl that would phone me and would knock at my door.
A little girl calling herself Tildy would phone me in my dreams and tell me she was coming to see me and would I open the door.
The little girl looked like a mixture of my Mum (who had passed away just possible the night baby was conceived ) and Anna as a little girl.
I knew from my dreams everything was going to be just great and that there was no need to worry...In hindsight I will learn to listen more closely to these messages and believe in what I know to be true in my heart. It would save lots of stress and anx.

On the 5th of April 2011 Matilda Betty Urquhart entered our world.
It was not without drama.
Resuscitated, intubated , tube fed ,operated on , close shaves and infections this little baby was staying in our world.
Anna was an exquisite Mum . From the start.......and still to this day..

When Anna posted this the photo on Facebook the caption read "A face only a Mother could love"..Anna never lost her sense of humour.

The birth (Caesarean) itself cost Anna a lot of blood and initially she was held back to check her levels of blood whilst Lox went up to NICU (NeoNatal intensive care) with the bubby.

It was a harrowing time waiting for the results of Anna's bloods because my headstrong daughter was already telling me should would refuse a transfusion. Thank goodness it was not necessary.
All I wanted at that moment was for my daughter to be well and to be with her baby daughter.
What an amazing feeling it was when I was able to help push her bed up to the incubator and watch my daughter meet her own daughter for the first time.
Overwhelming.
This feeling of intense love will stay with me forever.
Through sheer determination Anna expressed her own milk four times a day and saved it in the NICU fridge(It was used to help one precious baby boy ).

This determination made it possible for Anna to breast feed .I think it was a good few weeks before this was possible but feed her she did.

With love and strength being sent daily by so many friends family and well wishers it was hard not to feel the incredible healing power of love .

All of this is behind us and as a family we have all come to accept that Matilda Betty Urquhart had a rough start but come through it and taught us and gave us all a treasure.