Therese was trying her best to keep it together, but would her girl make it?
It was my 40th birthday, but the celebrations were tinged with sadness.
My husband David and
I had been trying for a second baby, but it wasn’t happening.
We had a three-year-old girl, Orla, and I longed to give her a sibling.
Only, as the clock kept ticking, I knew I couldn’t deal with the heartbreak for much longer.
‘If it doesn’t happen in the next three months, I want to stop trying,’ I told David.
‘I understand,’ he said.
Two weeks later, instinct told me to do a pregnancy test.
When the test indicated it was positive, I gasped in surprise.
So I waited a week and did it again.
This time, there was no doubt — I was expecting.
‘Orla, would you like to give this to Daddy?’ I smiled, handing her the stick.
When David saw it, a smile spread across his face.
However, we were holding our breath until the 12-week scan.
But when the scan showed everything was fine, we finally relaxed.
My pregnancy progressed well, and when we told Orla she was going to have a baby sister, she was delighted.
She’d bring my bump gifts, such as her special teddy
to look after, when she was at nursery.
At 39 weeks, I was with David, collecting her from nursery.
Once we’d picked Orla up, we headed home.
But just then, I felt a sudden gushing sensation.
'The NHS staff were amazing'
Looking down, I saw a patch of blood spreading down my trousers.
‘Let’s start walking,’ I said, as calmly as possible, so as not to alarm Orla.
But I knew something wasn’t right, because of the sheer amount of blood.
Back home, I couldn’t get through to the midwife, so David called 999.
Meanwhile, I tried to ignore the rising panic.
I told myself we’d done everything we could — the medics would look after us, and Orla was fine.
But I’d never been so scared.
Soon an ambulance arrived.
‘We’ve got you, you’re doing great,’ Katie the paramedic said, kindly, helping me inside.
David climbed in next to me.
‘We need to be ready for this baby not being alive,’ I said.
I was trying my best to keep it together, but I was sure my girl wasn’t going to make it.
At hospital, a midwife ran a doppler over my tummy.
Hearing the heartbeat was incredible, and there were lots
of tears.
Nothing else mattered — my baby was alive.
Katie gave me a much-needed hug!
Her care and compassion
was incredible.
After almost 12 hours of labour, I gave birth to a gorgeous, healthy baby.
‘Hello Fia,’ I said, as my 8lb 2oz bundle was handed to me.
David and I were overcome with love.
She was calm and content, with a mop of black hair and blue eyes.
We stayed in hospital for two days, as doctors wanted to keep an eye on her.
The NHS staff were amazing, and looked after us so well.
Back home, Fia slotted into our family straightaway.
But there was something I couldn’t forget — the kindness of Katie the paramedic.
I wanted her to know she’d made a huge difference, so I sent her an email, praising her outstanding care.
I count myself lucky to have met you, I wrote.
She wrote a touching email back and a few weeks later, I asked if she would like to meet me and Fia.
We had an emotional reunion at Wimbledon Ambulance Station.
I’ll forever be thankful that she helped save Fia’s life, and for making a terrible time something I can look back on and still remember beautifully.
Therese Siciliano, 40, Wandsworth, London
● Therese is donating her fee to the London Ambulance Service.