My Birth

Mum went into labour on 24th February 1985. She went to the hospital. When Mum and Dad arrived the midwife made Mum comfortable. She asked Mum if she wanted any painkillers, Mum said no thank you I'm fine at the moment.

When she came back half an hour later Mum was nearly climbing the walls. Mum was getting tired and stressed. The midwife said to the doctor that Mum needed to go to theatre for a Caesarean section.

The doctor said she is having a normal delivery. The midwife made the doctor sign to say that she was refusing to let Mum have a C section. A few minutes later a more senior doctor came to assess Mum and he tried to use forceps to get hold of my head. My head was too far up in Mum’s abdomen to get at it.

All of a sudden the monitors went off, it was a sign that I was in distress. They rushed Mum to theatre. As they were pushing her down she was signing the consent form. I was born at quarter to eight in the morning on Tuesday 26th February 1985.

When Mum came out of theatre, she was very groggy so she wasn't with it. Dad was crying. Dad told Mum that they had to choose a name for me, in case I died. They called me Dawn Marie.

They had the choice to turn off the ventilator and to stop the drugs they were giving me which were helping to keep me alive. Without them, I would have died. Dad said to Mum that he knew what he wanted to do but that she would be the one who would have to look after me. Mum wanted to see me before she made up her mind. Mum and Dad said they wanted the doctors to do everything they could for me. The doctor told Mum and Dad that I would be physically and mentally disabled, never communicate in anyway and be incontinent.

Dad had to tell all the family that I was very poorly.

In October 2004, Mum and Dad bought a Golden Retriever puppy called Ben.

Mum could have gone home after a week but wanted to stay at the hospital with me. Dad took her case home so that he could get clean nightgowns etc to take back to the hospital for her. When Dad opened Mum’s case in the living room, he dived in it, trying to find Mum.

I was in the special care baby unit for almost three weeks. On my incubator, it said DO NOT TOUCH IRRITABLE BABY! Whenever I was touched, I went into a fit. Mum hadn't seen my eyes open so didn't know what colour they were. One day my Granddad came to see me and I opened my eyes. Mum said 'Look she has got her eyes open'. I closed them straight away. At a few days old I liked men!

After 3 weeks in hospital, Mum was allowed to take me home to Crewe.

My big brother Anthony lived with us. He was 14 when I was born. Mum and Dad had had a few problems because he thought that he would be left out when I was born. He was the first person who saw me after Mum and Dad. When Dad took Anthony home, he said to him that if anyone ever hurt me, he would kill them.

When me and Mum got home, Mum had to almost throw me to my Grandma because Ben lunged at her and she was worried that I might get hurt.

When I was a few months old, it seemed to Mum that every time she started to cook the dinner, I would start to cry. Anthony would stop doing his homework, take me off Mum and take me to his bedroom. He would give me a piece of paper to rip up while he continued with his homework.

A doctor came to the house to assess me. She spent a few hours playing with me. She said that I had Cerebral Palsy. That helped Mum and Dad because they knew what disability they were working with. She also arranged for me to have physiotherapy at home

Mum took me to toy libraries which were groups, set up for parents with children who had disabilities. The parents were able to borrow toys to see if they were of any use to their child. This may seem strange but toys cost a lot of money and if the child with the disability couldn't use the toy, then the toy was a waste of money. Mum found the groups a bit harsh because she thought they just seemed to concentrate on what the children couldn't do instead of what they could do.

I had lots of hospital appointments like shoe fittings (I had to wear special boot /shoes to support my ankles) and occupational therapy sessions.

Mum took me everywhere with her.