the birth of dylan james whincop

8/7/2019 The Birth of Dylan James Whincop

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TheBirthofDylanJamesWhincop

Wewere living inEnglandwhenwe conceived our first

child,butplannedtogivebirthathomeinAustraliasowe

bought tickets to return to Australia at 32 weeks. I

expectedaperfectlynormalpregnancyasmyMumhad7

trouble-freepregnanciesandindeedallwaswell,untilat27 weeks I had an episode of what I thought was

incontinence(which apparently canbequite common in

pregnancy),soIembarrassedlylaugheditoff(itwasonly

aboutatablespoon)andpromisedtodosomemorepelvic

floorexercises.

Afterthisepisode, Ihad a discharge that got increasingly heavier, and again, afterreading the

‘trusty’books,believedthiswasquitenormal.Mymid-wifedidn’tseemtothinkanythingwas

amissduringmyroutineappointment(aboutaweeklater),butshewasveryinexperienced,so

mayhavemissedsomekeysigns.Threedayslater(about10daysaftertheinitialepisode),there

wasastreakofbloodinthedischarge,soIthoughtitmightbetimetogetitcheckedout.Asitwas

aSunday,wewenttoCasualtyattheHospital–onthewaytoafriend’shouseforlunch,withtheapplepieonthebackseatofthecar….Afterexplainingmy‘symptoms’totheregistrar,Isatand

waitedandfinallyanursecamedownandsaid‘soyouthinkyourwatersmayhavebroken?”I

thoughtitwasacaseofChinesewhispers,soexplaineditallagain;theyexaminedmeandasked

metostayovernightforobservation.Itseemedabitofanovelty,havingthemfussingovermeso

unnecessarily,soIsettleddownforanightinhospital.

Laterthatafternoon,Ineededtogotothetoilet,andthenwhenIreturned,Ineededtogoagain,

butignoreditandforsomereason,wrotedownthetimeonabitofpaper.Fiveminuteslater,I

felttheneedtogoagain,andthiscontinuedevery5minutesforabout20minutes,whenIbuzzed

for the nurse. She came in and soon discovered that I had gone into labour. Doctors came

rushing,plyingmewithdrugstotryandstopthecontractionsandsteroidsforthebaby’slungsincaseIdelivered–theywereabitpanickedbecausethiswasasmallregionalhospitalthatcouldn’t

copewithsuchanearlybaby.Ithinkthatworriedmethemost,seeingthemsoobviouslyinaflap

(aren’tyousupposedtoremaincalminfrontofpatients?!).Theyphonedallthelargerhospitals

totryandfindabedforthisnewtinybabythatwasabouttoarrive.Finally,theycameintosay

theyhadmadearrangementsformetobetransferredbyambulancetoEdinburgh,2hoursaway.

Mattwenthometopackupsomethingstotakewithus–itstillbringstearstomyeyestothinkof

whatmusthavebeengoingthroughhishead,hehadresignedhimselftolosingthebabyandwas

worriedaboutlosingmetoo.

TheambulanceleftDurhamaroundmidnight…andthenthecontractionssubsided.Soitseemed

asthoughallthisfusswasovernothing,andIwaslookingforwardtoalittlejauntinbeautiful

Edinburgh. But then, just before arriving in Edinburgh, the contractions resumed and mytemperaturecontinued to rise. Matt arrived shortly after the ambulance, andwe spokewith

severaldoctors-theydidn’tknowwhyIhadgoneintolabour,sowerenotsureofwhatneededto

bedone;thisuncertaintywasnotveryreassuring!Finally,thoughnone-the-wiser,wewereable

togetsomemuch-neededsleep.

Thenextday,aseriesofprofessionalscameintoseeus,withnofurtherconfirmationonwhat

wasactuallygoingtohappen–Istartedtogetabitmorenervouswhenthepaediatriciancameto

talk abouta 28week baby’s prospects;upuntilthispoint, Iwas indenial, convinced that the

labourwouldstop.Myapprehensionpeakedagainwhentheanaesthetistcamein–Ialsohadn’t

considered the need for a caesarean! Finally,awise old doctor,with a very calming bed-side

mannerspokeassertively:Ihadaninfectioninmywombthatwascausingmytemperaturetoriseandwillbemakingthebabysick-thebabywouldbesaferoutthanin,andtheywouldtakegood

careofhim.Sofinally,someonewaswillingtotakechargeofthesituation!



DylanJamesWhincopwasbornbyemergencycaesarean

at9:30pmonMondaynight(16Oct2006).Theytoldus

wehadalittleboy,buthewaswhiskedstraightawayfor

treatment.Hewasgiven3shotsofsurfactanttostimulate

his lungs; his ‘Apgar’ score was 6 (at 1 minute) but

increasedto9(at5minutes);heweighed1.15kg.Finally,

we got a glimpse of our little boy as the hospital staff

wheeledhimpastusonatrolley(hewasinaplasticbagto

try and keep him warm); he was taken straight to

intensivecare.

Mattwentdowntoseehimaroundhalf anhour later,whileIwas

still in recovery. At the sound of Daddy’s voice, Dylan turned

towardhim,triedtoopenhiseyesandtriedtocry.Poorlittlemite!

Hewas given antibiotics to clearhis strep B infection contracted

frommywaters–thankgoodnessIlistenedtothewiseolddoctor,

orDylanwouldhavediedinutero!Ididn’tgettoseehimuntilthe

nextday;itwasheartbreakingtoseethepoorlittlethingallalonein

thatincubatorwithsomanytubesandneedlesstuckintohistinybody.Hewasonaventilatorfor48hours,andthenonCPapfor

another7days–andfinally,afterthelongest10daysofmylife,I

gotmyfirstcuddle.

Itwassosurreal;sittingbythemachines,watchingthelevelspeak

anddip,listeningtothealarmsgooffandexpectingthenursesto

come running – they rarely did; the nurses had looked after

hundredsoftinybabieslikemine–butthebetternursesrecognisedthatforus,astheparents,

thiswasafirst-time,unique,terrifyingexperience,andtheyreallytriedtoempathiseandreassure

usthathewasinverycapablehands.(Thehospitalstaffhadalsoarrangedahotel-likeroomfor

MattandItostayinwhileDylanwasinintensivecare;theywerewonderful.)

Iguess,thehormones,aswellastheemotions,areallovertheplaceintimeslikethese;ononeof

thefirstnights,IhadpainstakinglycollectedthecolostrumforDylan’sfirstfeedwithasyringe,

butthenurseforgottorefrigerateitand ithadtobethrownout–andthatseemedlikeanother

devastation,Iburstintotears!Myworstmemoryofthoseearlydaysiswalkingintotheintensive

carewardonemorningandseeingallthenursesanddoctorscrowdedaroundDylan’scrib.He

had deteriorated overnight andwas not respondingwell;theyoungishdoctorwas poking and

prodding my baby and perhaps didn’t realise how insensitive this seemed to the poor little

creature’smother. Ithoughtthiswastheendforhimandcollapsedonthefloor.Thankfully,he

recovered,andIlearnedtobealittlestronger.

Meanwhile, my bleeding had not stopped, and it wasdiscovered that I had “retained products”, so they gave me

sometabletstotryanddislodgethem;asideeffectbeingthat

IhadtothrowoutthemilkIwasexpressingforthenext2

weeks. So frustrating, but thankfully my supply had been

goodandwehadaloadofmilkstoredinthefreezertokeep

himgoingoverthattime.

Finally,after2weeksinintensivecare,hewasabletobreathe

byhimselfinair,andwasreadyto betransferred tospecial

carebackinDurham.The2-hourambulancetriptookitout

ofhim, andhehadtohavehisoxygenlevelsturnedbackup

for a fewmore days, but apart from that, his progress was

slow but steady. Finally,onDecember1st , after7weeks in

hospital, he was allowed to come home; I will always



rememberthatfeelingofsteppingoverthethresholdwithhiminourpossession;whatarelief!I

alsorememberthatfirstanxiousnight,ofbeingtotallyresponsibleforthislittleboy–wereceived

aphone-callthenextdayfromthewifeofoneoftheUnilecturers(whowebarelyknewatthe

time), asking how our firstnight athome togetherhad gone– I burstinto tearsand she came

straightovertoseeme,earningthetitleofGrandmaDebbieandbecomingagoodfriendfromthat

momenton.

PoorlittleDylanwasbackinhospitalwithin2weeks–hehadn’tbeenfeedingwellforafewdays

andwasverysleepy,thebreastfeedingclinicsuggestedItakehimtothehospitalforacheckup,

butwegotcaughtinthesnowonthewaythere.Bythetimetheysawhim,histemperaturewas

solow,theythoughtthe(3)thermometershadbroken,butsoondiscoveredthathewassuffering

fromhypothermia;hispoorlittle2kgbodyjustwasn’tabletoregulatehistemperature.PerhapsI

hadalsotakentheSIDSliteratureaboutnotoverheatingbabiesalittletooseriously,soturnedthe

heaterupanotchafterthat!

Hisheartmurmurhadbeenabitofaconcernforus,buttheholein

his heart seemed to be closing by itself after 1 month and was

declaredclosed aftera visit to the cardiologist ataround 3months

old. Around this same time, I was getting very tired, so stupidlylistened to some old-fashioned advice about breastfeeding “10

minuteseachsideisalltheyneed”,andpromptlysawhisweightgain

totallystall;hedroppedfromthe9thpercentilebacktobelowthe0.4th

percentile–theHealthVisitorwasnotimpressedandadvisedhebe

topped up with a bottle after each breastfeed from now on. His

weightgainafterthatwasbrilliant,andby12monthsofage,hewas

atthe50thpercentile(fornormal,fulltermbabies)and75thpercentile

forheight.

Sincethen, I guessour lifewas prettymuch likeany otheryoung

family;someofDylan’sothermilestoneswere:

Smiling justunder4months

Firsttooth 11months

Clapping justunder1year

Waving 13months

Crawling 13.5months

Cruising 15months

FirstStep justunder17months

WhenDylanwas2and3months,hehadafebrilefit,andwastakenby

ambulancetohospitalagain-anabsolutelyterrifyingexperience!Once

weknewthese fitsarequitecommon,andhowtodealwiththem, the

next2 hehadwere a little less stressful.Apparently kids grow out of

thesebythetimetheyare5,sothankgoodnessforthat!

And now Dylan is 4 and you would never know he was born

prematurely;heisalovelylittleboyandanabsolutedelight–Iwouldn’t

change anything; astheysay itis the experiencesyougothroughthat

makeyouintothepersonyouaretoday(forbothhimandme!).

Ablogofhisfirst2yearsisathttp://dylanwhincop.blogspot.com/

(theformattinghasgoneabithaywireandwe’velostthefirstpostsforsomereason!!)

the birth of dylan james whincop

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