I still remember to this day our reaction when we discovered we were pregnant with Gabrielle. Firstly surprise as we’d only really decided to start trying not even a couple of months before, then shock that it was really going to happen and we would be having a son or daughter. I did both the tests that came in the pack to make sure they gave the same result!! We both had that “Oh my God, there’s no going back now” feeling mixed in with being very happy.

I had a great pregnancy, didn’t really get sick and had what I thought a very active wee baby. I worked right up to 4 weeks before having Gabrielle and got all the usual comments like did we know what we were having ( no ) and just as long as the baby’s healthy then it doesn’t matter ( yes ). We never took our pregnancy for granted, but never expected anything would happen to our baby.

May 25th 2002 was the one of the first days our lives changed forever and we welcomed our little girl into the world after 12 hours of labour. We didn’t actually think to look what we’d had as it was just so amazing full stop!! And she arrived in plenty of time for our midwife to still make the Super 12 rugby final that the Canterbury Crusaders went on to win!!

Wow, we were a little family of three now and it felt incredible, overwhelming, scary but perfect. I spent that first night awake a lot, mostly as she was so noisy and getting used to making sounds she probably never had before, and just looking at her in wonder at how she fitted into my tummy and that she was our daughter. Gabrielle was a mix of both of us and this precious wee life was ours to love and protect and it’s a feeling you can never explain to someone who hasn’t experienced becoming a parent.

Gabrielle was a very strong baby which was evident when it came to breastfeeding. She wasn’t having anything to do with that and would push her head back away with real strength. There was nothing that would have given away that she could have been having trouble, but we often wonder if she didn’t have the facial strength to be able to feed.
It wasn’t a big deal in the end as it meant we were both able to give her bottles and spend that time with her. We found that we did have to make the holes bigger in the teats so the milk flowed easier and Gabrielle didn’t have too much effort.

Gabrielle was a perfect baby, slept well and was very happy. Not being used to having babies around, we never really thought anything about the lack of movement or kicking her legs in the air like they normally do. Scott used to comment that she wasn’t moving a lot, but you never think much more about it to think the worst. I kept persevering with tummy time which she hated and always cried, after finding out I used to feel awful that it made her made her so uncomfortable, but I didn’t know.