Our daughter wouldn’t be here if it wasn’t for Tommy’s

My husband Sean and I live in Kenilworth with our little boy Jack and Sean’s son Nathan. I was absolutely delighted when I found out I was pregnant with a sibling for the boys in 2016. We were even more thrilled when we discovered we were expecting twins. It felt like the right time for us.  We left our first scan feeling like the luckiest people in the world.

No words can describe the heartbreak

At 25 weeks pregnant, I went into labour. I was really poorly at the time and had flu-like symptoms. It was such a shock for us.

Our beautiful little girls arrived in December 2016. They both passed away the following day. There’s nothing quite like the pain and heartbreak we endured. We weren’t given a reason for the loss of our girls.  It was the most horrific time. It was like living in a nightmare and tore our lives apart.

Trying to conceive after loss

I became pregnant again in 2017 but had a miscarriage at 8 weeks. We had another miscarriage in January 2018.

We were absolutely devastated and didn’t know if we could continue.

Tommy’s gave us hope

As we’d experienced 3 losses, we were referred to Professor Siobhan Quenby’s recurrent miscarriage clinic at Tommy’s National Centre for Miscarriage Research. Professor Quenby took her time to learn about what we’d been through and promised to help us if we fell pregnant again.

In June 2018, I became pregnant. It was such a terrifying time for both of us, particularly because I bled throughout the first trimester. The Tommy’s team were so supportive, and I was prescribed progesterone and a low dose of aspirin.

The staff at Tommy’s National Centre for Miscarriage Research at Coventry were there for us at our time of need. No question seemed too small.

Preparing for a new arrival

When you’ve been through baby loss, it’s hard to believe you’ll ever get a baby at the end of a pregnancy. When we got to 32 weeks, we finally allowed ourselves to start preparing. Until then, we hadn’t dared to dream.

Our beautiful little girl, Livvie, was born in March 2019. She’s amazing. She’s brought so much joy to our lives.

Thank you, Tommy’s

It makes me feel emotional to think about the journey we’ve been on really. To put it frankly, our daughter wouldn’t be here if it wasn’t for Tommy’s. We were starting to accept the fact we’d never bring another baby home. We were so close to giving up.

Without Tommy’s, families like us would be left with gaping holes in their hearts. Their work is truly life changing.

Exercise has been key in maintaining my mental health during some very tough times. In some ways, running has been my path to recovery. My plan was to run the London Landmarks Half Marathon as a member of Team Tommy’s in March 2020. Sadly, due to coronavirus, the event didn’t go ahead. However, I was excited when I found out that I could still do something to say thank you for Tommy’s. Earlier this year, I took part on the Local Landmarks Challenge. Running a half marathon locally was quite a challenge but my son cycled with me and, together, we raised £1800. I’m so happy I’ve been able to give something back to Tommy’s – it’s an honour to help in any way I can.