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Tuesday

Tuesday   F ebruary 2024 There were two Tuesdays that were significant to you.    There was the day we drove to Bristol to get the answers to the many questions we had and there was the day we were discharged from the hospital, without you.    I am sorry baby girl, but we weren’t thinking “positive” thoughts, or hoping for miracles that day. I think deep down we already knew what the answers would be, but we were told to go there and find out what the experts would say, so we did. They were the specialists who could confirm what they weren’t able to tell us in Exeter. They would tell us exactly how poorly your heart was and what they could do for you. We’d waited 5 long days for this appointment. 5 days in a suspended reality, not able to relax, to plan or to live. We were just waiting. We didn’t feel any better after that appointment. It was worse.    I remember feeling so sick on the drive. I sat in the passenger seat, reading up on the anatomy...

Monday

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  Monday   February 2024 Monday will always be the day I gave birth to you. It will be the day we met you. But we didn’t take you home with us and we never saw your smile.    You were brought to us, in a little basket, wrapped beautifully in two blankets: the one I finished early for you and one donated to the hospita l for babies like you. Giving birth to you was one of the hardest things I have ever done. Giving birth to your sister wasn’t easy, but giving birth to you hurt me so much more. You arrived at 3:30 in the morning. I was holding your daddy’s hand and being looked after by a lovely woman called Alison. She told me I was brave. Your daddy told me he was proud of me. It was so hard for me, knowing that I had to stop growing you. I didn’t feel brave or strong. I wish I could have kept you growing in me.    When we met you later that day, I’d had some sleep and a shower. I put on your daddy’s favourite dress. I wanted to look nice to meet ...

Sunday

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 Sunday February 2024 This is a really tough day for me. It will always be the day I went into hospital to give birth to you, but not to say hello.    Time went both slowly and fast that morning. We had a lazy morning, hanging out with your sister. Neither of us wanted the day to start: we both wanted to press pause. I wished I could stop time and make it not happen, but I couldn’t . There are so many powers we wish we had as parents: we can’t stop time, we can’t see the future, we can’t change the past. We can only deal with now and do the kindest thing we can to cause our children the least amount of pain possible.    Parts of that day will be tattooed into my mind for the rest of my life, yet parts are so fuzzy now, only a few weeks later. I remember trying to pack a bag and not knowing what I was packing for. It wasn’t like the labour I had last time: I didn’t need any clothes for a new baby. I didn’t know how long I would be in hospital for. I did...