29th May 2011 & 30th May 2011
For Felix, the little warrior!
As soon as Britain’s Got Talent finished at 9:00pm on a Sunday afternoon, your Mummy started to feel some little pains in her stomach. Your Daddy, being the knowledgable midwife that he is, thought that they may go away so didn’t really worry too much about it. Karen, your Auntie, went home and said “look after the baby” not knowing what was about to happen. Around 30 minutes later Mummy’s pains started to get a bit worse so we phoned Macclesfield Hospital. Dad explained to the midwives about her pain and then realised that she hadn’t been to the toilet for a while so she may, you know, just need the toilet. Daddy Midwife to the rescue once again. The midwife also considered this and suggested that she took a few pain killers and waited a couple of hours. Well the whole constipation idea was taken on board pretty successfully, your mummy started rushing to the toilet more often and complained a lot. Your Daddy started to get a bit annoyed at Mummy “Surely you must know if you need a poo!” he tried “I DON’T!” snapped Mum. So, over stimulated, Daddy tried to fall asleep.
Sleep didn’t come easily – Mum was always asking him questions or making loud groaning sounds and banging around. This repeated itself for around an hour (poor Dad) and Mum eventually decided that the best thing for both of them was to go to the hospital.
Sleep didn’t come easily – Mum was always asking him questions or making loud groaning sounds and banging around. This repeated itself for around an hour (poor Dad) and Mum eventually decided that the best thing for both of them was to go to the hospital.
The A&E in Macclesfield didn’t keep us waiting and directed us straight to the maternity ward. Dad pushed Mum in a wheel chair and we were met by a nice lady called Heidi. She put your mummy onto the bed and prodded around her belly, she felt you (your were upside down with your bottom sticking up) and then put a machine on Mum to feel for contractions. We discussed where the nearest toilet was and Mum was ready to go ‘try’ again. The midwife suggested that perhaps that wasn’t a wise idea, but Dad had already convinced Mum that she just needed the toilet so she was pretty upset she couldn’t go. Mum now started feeling lots of pain and started shouting because of it. Dad held her hand and reassured her she’ll be fine. More screaming. Grip getting tighter. More reassurance.
Looking back it was clear that your Mum was experiencing contractions, at the time however, because you weren’t meant to appear for another 11 weeks, the whole toilet idea seemed much more plausible.
Mum started looking and sounding a little scary. She started panting and shouting and doing weird hand movements. Dad was starting to get a little freaked out. Finally a doctor arrived, which was great news for both of them, but left shortly afterwards saying he needed to consult another doctor. This wasn’t good news for Mummy. This wasn’t good news for Daddy. Her pain was getting worse so the nurse gave her some Gas & Air to calm her down. This worked a treat. It worked so well that the only two things your mummy did from that point was say “I need a poo” and sleep.
Mum started looking and sounding a little scary. She started panting and shouting and doing weird hand movements. Dad was starting to get a little freaked out. Finally a doctor arrived, which was great news for both of them, but left shortly afterwards saying he needed to consult another doctor. This wasn’t good news for Mummy. This wasn’t good news for Daddy. Her pain was getting worse so the nurse gave her some Gas & Air to calm her down. This worked a treat. It worked so well that the only two things your mummy did from that point was say “I need a poo” and sleep.
When the consultant finally arrived the little graph machine that was plugged onto your mummy’s belly showed that she was having very fast contractions. The doctor had a quick check down below to see if you were starting to come out. You were. PANIC! Alarms went off, nurses and doctors appeared from everywhere and Dad put mummy onto a wheelchair. Everyone ran into a room, Dad placed Mum onto a bed and the midwife started to tell everyone what to do.
The next ten minutes were filled with instructions “PUSH!”, screams “Aaaaaaaaaaargh” and panic before your tiny little head appeared and you started to cry. Within seconds and before Mum and Dad got to look at you properly, you were wrapped in a plastic sheet and lifted onto an open incubator. Doctors surrounded you and started sticking things down your throat. Dad was very hyper and couldn’t watch this so went back to your Mum to congratulate her and to get a breather (it was very manic)
Three minutes later your parents realised that they didn’t know if you were a boy or a girl. The doctor said “er, well he looks like a boy.” So, until further investigation, your were. You were a boy named ‘Felix’
Shortly after, a doctor came to explain that because you were early they may be some complications, Dad can’t remember exactly what was said - but does remember feeling very sick all of a sudden. Not sick because of the news, it seemed obvious that you would need medical help, but it was the first time that it started to sink in what had actually happened. Saranya Hasler was a Mummy. Robert Hasler was a Daddy. You were their Son. The first time we got to see what you really looked like was when a Nurse brought a picture in of you an hour or so after you were born. She said you were very cute.
It took another hour before we could see you in person. You were so tiny but still held onto your parent's finger.
It took another hour before we could see you in person. You were so tiny but still held onto your parent's finger.
Because you were born very prematurely Macclesfield Hospital couldn’t care for you as well as a larger Hospital, so after an hour a doctor and a nurse came from Liverpool Women’s Hospital. The doctor originally assessed you and was very hopeful that you were to have no complications. He was very pleased that your delivery was safe and that you started using the ventilator with no problems. They were told that in around 30 minutes you would be on your way to Liverpool. You had other plans. When the doctor tried to move you to their portable incubator you became very unsettled and started showing the first signs of trouble. This, as you can imagine, was very stressful for everyone and it took you around 3-4 hours to finally settle down. At 6:00am with Mum and Dad still in a daze, they watched you being wheeled away by an ambulance crew, out of the door and into a lift.
Whilst you were in the ambulance on your way to Liverpool your Mum and Dad ran back home to collect some things to take to the hospital. They phoned a few people to tell them the great news and set off before they fell asleep. When they arrived, they found you settled in your incubator in intensive care. You had many tubes connecting to various parts of your body, the ventilator was pumping your lungs, you had various lines into your umbilical cord, bright red LED and three coloured pads monitoring on your chest. Around your incubator there were lots of monitors beeping and flashing away, monitoring your every movement.
It was an overwhelming day for all of us, but we knew the second we saw you that you were going not going to give up.
That Felix, was the first day of your life.
PS. Talk about tempting fate, this is what your Dad posted onto Facebook 3 days before you were born.
