Desperation is a curious thing. It can cloud our judgement, make us crazy, illogical, and emotional – but sometimes, it can be the very thing we need to make our dreams come true. Or at least, that was the case for Kiera Meldrum.
A tough decision
Kiera, a 20-year-old young woman from England, wanted a child more than anything in the world. After losing four babies in pregnancy in her past, she was willing to do whatever it took to be a mother.
When she got pregnant again, this time it felt right. Nothing was going to stand in her way… Well, except for the doctors, who all advised her 14 times to terminate her pregnancy. They weren’t being negative – her baby was simply in critical condition.
Not looking good
When Kiera first discovered she was pregnant, it was July 2018, and as we mentioned before, she had just suffered four miscarriages in a period of only two years.
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After 12 weeks of being pregnant, the doctors scanned her, and at first everything seemed to look really great. Eight weeks later, however, that’s when things started taking a turn for the worse – the doctors realized the baby’s stomach was filling up with fluid, and it wasn’t looking good.
A rare condition
The doctors called it Grade 3 severe ascites, and it was located in the baby’s bowel. A steady build up of fluid had materialized between the two layers that align the stomach – and according to the medical professionals, this meant her baby was in danger.
They advised her at that moment to terminate the pregnancy – but Kiera wasn’t having it. She had waited too long and gone through too much hardship and pain to give up now.
Refusing to give up
But even though Kiera made the decision to keep her baby at that time, that didn’t mean it was easy for her. In fact, she felt physically ill when they told her the baby wasn’t well.
The way Kiera got through it was by telling herself that her “little girl was a fighter,” and that she was going to survive this whole thing. There was no way she was going to abort this child, and she was going to do anything she could to protect her.
Hoping for good news
Kiera continued to go into the hospitals for frequent scans throughout her pregnancy. She kept hoping that something would change – that one doctor would tell her that her baby was getting better.
But at every meeting, things only seemed to get worse – and her heart would shatter every time. By 28 weeks, the doctors explained to Kiera that her baby’s bowel had ruptured, and they strongly advised her again to terminate – but once again she refused.
Another hard choice to make
Meanwhile, while all of this was going on, there was a strong build up of amniotic fluid building up in Kiera’s stomach, and the doctors told her that she needed to drain it out.
But Kiera refused that too, because they also told her it would be endangering her child’s life even more. Considering the fact that her baby was already in a volatile condition, she kept her stomach filled with all that fluid. Even if it meant she would be in constant pain.
Painful sacrifice
We’re not joking around when we say that she was in constant pain because of this. Kiera explained that her “stomach swelled up enormously,” and that it felt as though she was holding a massive “painful water balloon” against her body.
But even though the experience hurt like crazy, she was willing to make that sacrifice if it meant protecting her baby and giving her a chance to live. Otherwise, “I’d never forgive myself,” said Kiera.
Struggling to move
As the weeks went by, Kiera genuinely struggled with the constant pain of all that fluid in her belly. She struggled to move properly, even more than most pregnant women usually struggle.
She was in frequent terrible pain, but she knew it would all be over soon. Finally, after weeks of painful sacrifice, the day came when she would finally deliver her baby. However, it was six weeks ahead of her due date, and was nervous about what that would mean.
The sound of silence
She named her lovely baby Lillee-Rose. But when she was born, they were far from being out of the woods. The first thing Kiera listened for when she was born was a loud cry.
But the cry didn’t come, and Kiera started to get extremely nervous. Her heart had been broken way too many times before, and she started fearing the absolute worst. Those few moments felt like a lifetime – but finally, after what felt like forever, she heard “this little scream.”
Holding her baby
When she finally heard her baby cry, a “huge wave of relief and emotion” washed over her. Her baby had survived! Or at least, he seemed okay at the moment. Things weren’t that simple for Lillee-Rose.
Apparently there was still a lot of work to be done, and she needed to be quickly taken into surgery. But before they took her away, they allowed Kiera to hold her first. “She was perfect,” said Kiera. She also called her “the most beautiful baby” she’d ever laid eyes on.
Off to surgery
At four pounds and three ounces, this baby was obviously smaller than most, and given her condition, she needed to be operated on immediately.
So even though it literally broke Kiera’s heart, she was forced to give her baby away to the doctors literally minutes after she had given birth to her. However, she was also “terrified of losing her,” so she knew that it was all for the best, and that the doctors would do their best to save her life.
Not a simple procedure
They had to act quickly. Lillee-Rose was promptly transferred to another hospital, where she was then placed into a highly complex surgery procedure, which involved them opening up her stomach and finding her bowel.
They had discovered that it had split in half, and one of the halves was wrapped around a blood vessel. They then connected these two halves with tubes and added a stoma bag – and just like that, this complicated surgery was completed.
Keeping tabs on her
But just because they had completed the surgery didn’t mean that they were successful. This was sort of unprecedented territory, and they weren’t sure if everything was going to work.
They monitored Lillee-Rose heavily over the next eight weeks, carefully noting everything that was going on. Kiera, meanwhile, said that her baby “looked so tiny inside the incubator,” with all those wires around. She knew that it was where her baby needed to be, but all she wanted to do was hold her tightly.
Desperate and waiting
Kiera had been waiting for months to finally meet her baby girl, and now that she was born, she wasn’t even able to hold her in her arms. “It was devastating,” she said.
Any mother who’s ever given birth can understand how hard that must’ve been – but it was all for the best. Finally, it was time to see if the first surgery had worked, and if so, to move on to a second surgery. By this point, Lillee-Rose was six weeks old.
Great news!
Amazingly enough, the first surgery had been successful! Eventually the second surgery was successful as well, and after all that painful waiting, Kiera was allowed to bring her baby girl home at last.
After everything she had gone through, it seemed like Lillee-Rose was going to be a healthy baby. Was this for real? After months and months of being told that she should abort her pregnancy, that her baby had little chance of survival, how was this even possible?
Still keeping tabs on her
So how is Lillee-Rose doing now? It’s been six months since she first got back from the hospital, and she’s been getting monitored every three months by the hospital just to make sure everything is okay with her.
The doctors explained that the bottom part of her bowel remains to be very fragile, and therefore she’s still vulnerable. However, they have noticed that her bowel has gotten much stronger as time has passed, and this is a very consoling thought.
‘My little miracle’
Meanwhile, Kiera is understandably ecstatic to finally be able to spend time at home with her little baby. She says that she’s constantly “amazed” by the strength of her daughter, and that it’s something she notices every day.
After all that waiting, Kiera is determined not to waste one moment with her daughter. “She’s my little miracle,” said an emotional Kiera. She continued saying how her little girl stayed strong throughout the entire process, and how proud she is.
Leap of faith
Kiera continued to reflect on the craziness of her story. She said that the doctors had told her every week to terminate her pregnancy, and that every time she’d hear that advice, it felt “horrific.”
But there was a voice inside her that told her Lillee-Rose was going to “make it through.” How did she know that? This case was truly a miracle, so how to Kiera predict that her child would be the beneficiary of such a shower of blessings?
Overcoming the odds
Maybe what this story teaches us is that it’s not always about “knowing.” When logical arguments are presented in front of us, things can seem pretty overwhelming.
But if we have a strong resilience inside of us – something we want badly enough – well then maybe we can overcome the odds. Kiera had a feeling that this one was going to work out. The past four pregnancies hadn’t worked out – but she had a feeling about this one.
Research papers written about it
Well, it turns out that the doctors were also shocked by everything that had happened. The truth is that her baby had a very rare condition, and they weren’t sure how safe it was, so they advised her to terminate her pregnancy.
But after successfully saving her life, they realized that this was a good research opportunity for future babies with similar conditions. Because of Lillee-Rose, they are now publishing papers about everything that had happened.
Doctor weighs in
Dr. Kelly Cohen, a medical professional at the hospital in which Lillee-Rose was treated, expressed her happiness that Lillee-Rose was doing well after the surgery.
She also talked about how rare her particular case was, and that apparently only one to three babies out of 10,000 have this condition. The procedure is highly complex and very difficult to execute – therefore the fact that they managed to pull it off is nothing short of a miracle.
Stronger every day
As of now, Lillee-Rose is looking stronger than ever. She’s growing up into a healthy baby, and she’s getting bigger every day. Kiera did mention, however, that she’s lactose-intolerant. But who isn’t lactose intolerant these days? She’ll fit right in!
In the grand scheme of things, this is a minor problem compared to the major string of things that could’ve gone wrong with her. It’s clear how grateful Kiera is for being given this gift – and we have no doubt she’ll give Lillee-Rose all the love in the world.
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