Please be aware Ayesha has chosen to share a picture of her holding John with her story. 

We were delighted when we found out baby number three was on the way. 

I had the usual pregnancy symptoms and at 16 weeks was diagnosed with gestational diabetes. I had had this in my last pregnancy, so I wasn't overly concerned about it.  

On January 23rd 2024, at 28 weeks pregnant, it was found that my baby's heartrate was far too fast and in the wrong rhythm. This is known as fetal SVT (Supraventricular tachycardia). At its fastest our baby's heart rate was measuring 288 beats per minute. The SVT had caused a life-threatening condition called non-immune hydrops which was collections fluid around our baby's body. This meant our baby was critically ill. 

We balanced up the risk of premature delivery with trying to treat our baby through medications through me. We decided together with our medical team to go down the medical route with complete inpatient observations.

I would end up in hospital for over five weeks. 

On March 1st at 9.30am while carrying out one of our two to three hourly observations, a heartbeat couldn't be found, and it was confirmed with two ultrasounds by two obstetricians that our baby's heart had stopped and he had passed away. His last heartbeat was recorded at 6.30am and was 216 beats per minute, so in the space of three hours our beautiful baby passed away. 

The induction process was then explained to us, then we went home for two nights to explain to our other two children and prepare for induction. 

My induction was started on Sunday 3rd March. On Monday 4th March at 7.33pm our beautiful boy entered this world silently.  We didn't find out the gender, so it was a surprise for us. He was perfect and weighed in at 5lbs 3oz. We named him John after his daddy. 

We were very lucky to be in a bereavement suite which allowed my husband to stay with me the whole time while we made memories and spent time with our beautiful boy including taking professional photos of us all as a family. 

We brought him home with us in his moses basket in the car on the Wednesday, another memory we are very lucky to have gotten. 

We held a private funeral at home on Saturday 9th March with close family and friends. 

Our lives will never be the same without our little John here. We will never stop talking about our strong little boy who fought so hard to stay with us. 🤍