I had two great pregnancies in my twenties, but when my boys were 10 and eight, my marriage broke up. I was 36 and wondering what was going on when I met a great guy and we quickly fell in love. He was only 30 and I knew he wanted kids, so I made the decision after two years together that I would have a reversal of the operation where I had my tubes clamped.
It was a long process of having fertility tests to make sure I was still ovulating, as my periods had become a bit erratic, and also testing him to check he was fertile as well. My doctor said the chances were about the same as IVF, which he said I could try as an alternative, but I decided to go ahead with the surgery.
As my tubes had been clamped, I assumed it would just be a matter of removing the clamps but he had to actually cut either side of the clamps and then rejoin the tubes with microsurgery. It was the same as having a caesarean — the surgeon had to cut on my old scar from when I had the boys. After the operation he said that it had been a great success and that the dye had flowed through the tubes as though they had never been clamped.
I started taking Clomid in October 2004 to boost my ovulation. By March 2005 I was pregnant and my beautiful baby girl was born, premature at 36 weeks. As I had high blood pressure in the weeks leading up to the birth she was another caesarean.
My baby had difficulty breathing and was transferred by helicopter to Liverpool hospital's neonatal unit. Because of the caesarean I was unable to make the trip to Liverpool until the next day. My baby really struggled for her life for the first few days, needing ventilation. By the end of her first week she was well enough to be transferred to my local hospital where she spent another week before coming home.
So after having the reversal, having my baby and spending time in three different hospitals in a week-and-a-half, I was happy to get home, but even happier when the doctors said I could take her with me. My partner was in bed after working a night shift so I brought her home on my own. It was a very happy ending to a difficult, painful and very emotional 13 months.
She is now almost six-months-old but you would never think she had ever been so sick. I'm very lucky to have been given a second chance, but I've told her dad she will be the only one. I've done my part. Now I just want to enjoy her and my boys.
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