Horrified woman went to the doctor with ‘appendicitis’ and found out she was in LABOUR… and she smoked and ‘drank loads’ through the whole pregnancy
Robyn Bailey thought she'd gained weight as she was happily loved-up with her boyfriend - but in reality she was carrying a surprise baby.
ROBYN Bailey put her expanding waistline down to being loved-up with her boyfriend - but when she was struck down with 'appendicitis', she discovered she was PREGNANT.
The 23-year-old went to the doctor with a suspected appendicitis, only to discover she was giving birth to a baby she didn't know she was carrying.
Amazingly, neither Robyn or her partner Luke Darvill, from Haverhill, Suffolk, had any idea that they were parents-to-be, with the couple rowing over fried chicken just hours before their daughter's arrival.
She said: "I had gone up from a size 12 when I started dating Luke to a size 18-20 three years later.
“I just thought it was ‘relationship weight,’ gained because we were so happy together and I hadn’t been watching what I ate.”
Robyn added that she thought that she had had an 'accident' when her waters broke unexpectedly, a situation made more awkward as they were staying at Luke's dad Peter's house - and they were on bad terms after their fast food disagreement.
She added: "I told Luke some mess had come out of me.
“He misunderstood and thought I had soiled myself. He told me to clean myself up.
“We’d earlier that night had an argument over KFC, so we were in a bad mood with each other.”
But, in agony, Robyn couldn’t sleep and called the NHS helpline, 101, who asked if she could be pregnant.
“I said no straight away,” she continued. “I hadn’t missed a period, so I didn’t think I was.”
The next morning, still in pain, the couple went to their GP and, told she was expecting a baby any minute, Robyn was sent straight to Addenbroke’s Hospital in Cambridge.
She said: “I couldn’t believe it, I couldn’t stop crying. I was in shock and just kept crying and crying and crying.
“I was on the contraceptive pill and didn’t miss a period.
most read in living
“I celebrated my 21st at seven months pregnant and drank loads. Two weeks before I gave birth I was out celebrating a friend’s 21st.
“I drank and smoke while expecting. It’s not something I’d encourage, but I simply did not know I was pregnant.”
Taken to hospital by car, it was confirmed she was pregnant – even potentially overdue – and 2cm dilated.
But, after 26 hours of pushing – her mum Kim, 53, joining the couple at the hospital shortly after they got there – her baby still hadn’t arrived.
Robyn was given an emergency caesarian and on February 12 Daisy arrived weighing 8lb 12oz – just one day after her mum discovered she was pregnant.
New mum Robyn was besotted, saying: "“I can’t remember how I felt. I was petrified, but I loved Daisy instantly. I loved her immediately.
“My eyes met hers and I loved her. There was nothing like it.”
Sadly for the couple, this was just the start of an emotional rollercoaster that would see their tiny daughter nearly die THREE times as doctors carried out TWELVE hours of surgery on her tiny heart.
Exactly two weeks after she was born, Daisy became sleepy and started breathing heavily during a day out in Cambridge.
Initially suspected of having sepsis, she was taken by emergency ambulance to the resuscitation unit at Addenbrooke’s Hospital, where scans revealed she had two holes in her heart.
Robyn initially worried it was her fault, but doctors said her behaviour during pregnancy was not to blame and that her condition was possibly genetic.
She said: "I can’t believe that, within two weeks, I went from being a normal 21-year-old, who was drinking, smoking and didn’t know she was pregnant, to being a mum with a baby with two holes in her heart.
“I first thought, ‘It’s my fault, ‘I didn’t know I was pregnant – I was smoking and drinking.’
“Thankfully, doctors reassured me that was not the case.”
Daisy spent the next five weeks in hospital, having her first four-hour operation in April at Great Ormond Street Hospital in central London.
During this surgery, medics inserted an elastic band-style object round her valve, so her heart could function properly.
Then, in November, an eight-hour heart bypass was performed at the same London hospital.
Now, while she is still under the care of cardiology at GOSH, she has come on leaps and bounds.
Robyn, who currently works at a local pub said: "She’s at nursery twice a week. She loves colouring and can count to 10.
“She’s amazing. In a matter of weeks, Luke and I went from not knowing we were having a baby, to nearly losing her.
"It was a real rollercoaster. But my surprise baby was the best thing ever.”
Luke, 26, added: “In a matter of weeks our lives had changed completely.
“We had no idea that Daisy was on the horizon and suddenly Robyn was not only pregnant, but also in labour and giving birth to our baby.
“We weren’t prepared at all, but as soon as we set our eyes on our baby daughter, we were love struck and couldn’t wait to get the next chapter of our lives started. She completed our little family.
“We had been at home for two weeks before Daisy became seriously unwell.
"We were told her heart wasn’t working properly – it was terrifying to think that something we loved so much could be taken away from us.”
The family were supported by The Sick Children’s Trust who provided them with accommodation near the hospitals where Daisy was being treated. Now Luke is running a half-marathon in aid of the charity.
This abused child went on to become a child psychiatrist and now helps other damaged youngsters.