During one of her routine scans at the doctors’ office, the doctors became aware that there was something wrong with Lynsey Bell’s unborn child.
“Her 28 and 32 week scans showed that her baby was not growing as expected,” said a Mama Mia story. “Then, one day towards the end of her pregnancy she became to experience complications.”
Aside from the constant abdominal pains, Lynsey’s hands and feet swelled, and her blood pressure shot up.
“On the advice of medical professionals she attended hospital. A short time later, doctors confirmed that she was in labor.”
It was at that point when the doctors discovered that Lynsey’s baby had no heartbeat. The nightmare didn’t end there, however.
Meeting her stillborn baby boy for the first time…
Cradling her stillborn baby | Photo credit: Mail Online/Alice McIntyre
Lynsey was rushed to the emergency room because she had suffered a life-threatening haemorrhage and needed a hysterectomy.
The doctors then discovered the root of her condition: pre-eclampsia. This is a serious complication in pregnancy in which the placenta becomes detached from the uterine wall.
The procedure required her to be placed in a coma for two days, and when she woke up she realized that her baby was gone.
Eventually she found the courage to see her baby boy, who they had named Rory. The doctors had kept him in a cold room after his birth.
“I didn’t know what he was going to look like,” she told Mail Online. “I was scared. [When] I reached out and touched him, he was cold and his cheeks were hard.”
At that moment, both Lyndsey and his husband Mark felt as though they needed to care for their stillborn baby son.
“I needed to care for him, I needed to change his nappy and get to know him,” she said. “I drank in every perfect little feature of his body. I took photos of his face, the back of his head and his tiny fingers and toes. I changed his nappy and rocked him in my arms, and my bond grew and grew.”
The following 15 days saw nurses assisting Lynsey and Mark in caring for their stillborn baby.
Before Rory’s funeral, Lynsey and Mark brought their son home for the first and last time.
“For one special night, we did everything we would have done during his first year,” she said. “We cuddled him in bed, we read him stories and we changed and bathed him. Our families came to say goodbye, each taking a turn for one last cuddle.”
The family buried Rory in a plot alongside his grandfather; Lyndsey keeps a candle burning in a glass lantern for his son.
“People often feel awkward about mentioning Rory’s name around me, but I love talking about my son,” Lyndsey says. “He’s just as much a part of our family as our living children.
“I’ll never forget my special baby, and for as long as I’m able I’ll keep his candle burning.”
Photo credit: Mail Online screengrabs