Kerry Proctor thought she would never have children. She didn’t have periods and doctors said there was ‘no hope’ of her falling pregnant because she had severe polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS).
But Kelly and her partner ended up having the best Christmas ever, when they unexpectedly found out she was expecting a miracle baby on 25 December.
The 27-year-old was spending the festive period in Amsterdam with her partner Chris Baxter, 32, when she started to feel ill.
She’d thrown away her contraceptive pill after doctors told her she wouldn’t be able to conceive – so when she felt unwell, she decided to do a test just in case.
They were amazed when it was positive and eight months later, in August 2017, they welcome their little boy Jackson.
Kerry, who works at Hamleys toy shop, said: ‘At first I just didn’t believe the test result said positive so we went out again to buy two more tests.
‘I still didn’t want to fully get my hopes up, but it was an incredible feeling.
‘I’d been told I had zero chance of carrying a child naturally and wouldn’t be able to get pregnant.
‘I’d been feeling so low after the news, that’s why we’d gone away for Christmas, I just needed to get away and be alone with my boyfriend.
‘My sister, who I love, had just had a baby too so it was especially hard to be around that.
‘So to find out I was in fact pregnant after all, on the most magical day of the year too, it was just so special.’
Kerry from Thurrock, Essex, was diagnosed with PCSO syndrome in 2008 when she was just 16, after her mum became worried that she hadn’t started her period.
After tests, her GP confirmed she had PCSO and explained that she might struggle to have children. As she was only a teenager, she didn’t think too much about it.
But when she met Chris in 2015, she started to think more about her fertility.
She said: ‘I knew I had the condition, but I don’t think I realised how severe my case was and just pushed it to the back of my mind.
‘And I definitely wasn’t thinking about having kids at that time.
‘It wasn’t until I’d been with Chris for about six months and we started to talk about a five-year plan that I admitted I might find it hard to conceive.
‘He was really proactive and we went to the doctor the next week.
‘I had six or seven appointments for blood tests, scans, consultations with specialists, and I wasn’t really too worried.
‘But then early one morning, a few weeks after my last appointment, the doctor called and said he had bad news.
‘They then told me that I’d never be able to conceive as my PCOS was so severe.’
After hearing the news, Kerry went back to work but it hit her later in the day and she broke down at her desk.
She added: ‘It’s a very, very hard thing to hear as a woman.
‘I felt like my chance to be a mum had just been snatched away, it was heartbreaking.
‘Chris was so supportive and said we had other options when the time is right, but I didn’t want to think about it.
‘I couldn’t bear to look at women pushing prams in the street, I’d cross to the other side and even found it hard to be around my mate’s kids too.
‘I felt quite depressed after that, I tried hard to push it all to the back on my mind but I couldn’t do it.’
Kerry found the news even harder to take when her older sister, Stacey, 32, announced that she was expecting her first child – who was due in early December.
Because of this, the couple decided to go away for Christmas as Kerry didn’t want to be around a newborn baby.
They booked to stay in The Apollo Hotel, in central Amsterdam, for three nights.
She said: ‘I was so happy for my sister, but it was just too hard being around her heavily pregnant and I knew it would be even worse once my nephew was born.
‘I’ve always loved Amsterdam and Chris had never been so we decided it would be a good place to visit.
‘It was lovely and chilly and festive there.
‘I was craving pancakes, although I had no idea why at the time, so we ate a lot of those.
‘I had been feeling nauseous on and off but put it down to a bug.
‘I was exhausted the whole time too, we had to keep stopping for rests as my legs were aching, which wasn’t like me at all.
‘After the second day, I thought back to all the symptoms my sister had just had with her pregnancy and so thought I’d do a test just to put my mind at rest.
‘We were really lucky that there was a pharmacy open near where we were staying and so we rushed out on Christmas morning to buy a test.
‘They came in packs of two so when the first one came back positive, and I didn’t believe it, I decided to do the next one right away!
‘I then sent Chris out for another pack of two, I couldn’t take it in.’
Believing that PCOS can cause false pregnancy results, Kerry refused to accept her positive results until she’d been seen by a doctor.
After returning to the UK on Boxing Day the couple had to wait over two weeks, until the 13th January 2017, for an appointment at Basildon University Hospital, Essex.
She said: ‘The nurse confirmed that I was 13 weeks pregnant and I think I was still in disbelief that I was going to be a mum.
‘I’d been so upset that I never would have a baby and so it was like I was scared to believe it.
‘It wasn’t until I told my mum later that day that it started sinking in.
‘We found out that we were expecting a boy at the 20-week scan, I’d always wanted a son, I call him my little miracle.’
Luckily, Kerry had a straightforward pregnancy and she gave birth to Jackson Baxter, now two, on 13 August 2017, weighing 8lbs 15oz, at Basildon University Hospital, Essex.
She said: ‘The birth was a scary experience but so worth it.
‘Jackson has defied all the odds to be here, he really is my Christmas miracle.’
MORE: If you’re grieving this Christmas, you’re not alone
MORE: Woman with narcolepsy accidentally orders air horns and prom dresses because she shops in her sleep
source https://metro.co.uk/2019/12/16/woman-told-never-kids-found-pregnant-christmas-day-11912735/
0 Comments