WHOLE LOTTA LOVE

Feeling the cold jelly on my stomach, my heart skipped a beat.

My partner Michael, 29, and I had been waiting for five months for our first baby scan.

It was September 2020, so with Covid, a move from Wales to Blackburn and changing GP practices, we couldn’t get an appointment until then.

‘You’re having a girl,’ the sonographer announced.

The pair of us beamed.

Finally, it all felt real.

But then…

‘Something isn’t quite right,’ the nurse said.

My heart dropped.

What could it be? I thought, looking to Michael for reassurance, but I could tell he was as scared as me.

‘It looks like your baby has a hole in her heart, but we’ll send you for tests,’ she continued.

Hearing those words, I went