About
We are Simon and Louise, proud parents of twins Katie and Lauren, who are 2 years old. Katie is 3 minutes older than Lauren, so that makes her the boss
Where did it start, I met Simon 4 years ago and we started dating, then moved in together, we had not been together long before we found out we were pregnant. It’s funny, because over ten years ago the doctors said I would never have children because of policyistic ovaries, so I thought I would never have kids, and told simon that I could never give him children.
Then Xmas eve I took a test. I was pregnant, we were over the moon, but scared of the thought because it’s a big thing becoming a parent. We had to visit the hospital on New Years Eve to check everything was OK and it was then we found out we were having twins. Oh my God, our jaws hit the floor, we were in shock to say the least, but happy at the fact we were starting a family together. We loved each other very much and still do.
We had the twins on the 08 July 2005.
Two girls, and they are all I prayed for. They are very good and very polite kids, but like all kids know how to throw a tantrum in the middle of shopping day.
Katie had Dilated Cardiomyopathy, she was sick and not going to last much longer without a new heart, she was on the tranplant list, she got her new heart on the 21st of December after going on the news and asking people to be donors, its been a long hard road watching her going through major surgery.
She is back home now and we are enjoying time together, I have severe heart failure at 30 years old, living with this and being a mum is hard. I get tired all the time and just want to sleep.
Its hard on Simon as well to be our carer, he looks after me and the twins, we could not do it without him. Lauren, Katie’s twin, has just started on medication for her heart because they think she is on the way to having the same heart condition, when it rains it pours. When will life ever be simple?
Katie is tube fed every 4 hours and has to have anti rejection drugs,but her life has changed so much since the transplant she is a different girl,no stopping her now she is very quick and loves dancing and singing with her sister.
We think of the donor family every minute of the day,they have saved my daughters life i cannot thank them enough and we will always tell Katie she has been given the gift of life.
I will have to have a heart transplant one day and it scares the pants off me i hate having dilated cardiomyopathy,it has changed my life i have to take a lot of pills to keep me going for now i see my new doctor soon i just hope they don’t put me on the transplant list yet im not ready for it.
It tears me up everyday thinking my daughters could grow up without me and Simon be on his own,all my life all i wanted to be was a good mummy and now im a mummy i want to see my kids grow up get married have kids of there own and be a granny one day i just want to live a full life.
Our condition is known as sudden death syndrome you just don’t know when your times up,we have to live for today and enjoy what we have together a wonderful little family all i ever dreamed about.
A FATHERS STORY (SIMON)
I first met Louise in November 2004 we both had gone through tough times in our lives and meeting each other was like a breath of fresh air,we quickly became best friends we hit it off straight away. Before i met louise i thought i knew what love was and i was truly wrong this love i have for louise is something special,you know when you get butterflies in your stomach that warm friendly feeling well i was overwhelmed with that(bliss or what).
Then came our first christmas together the best present ever the lord up above blessed us with two special angels,angels who would make a special difference to everyones lives,they made me the proudest man walking this planet,i mean finding out on christmas eve how magical is that but what was to lie ahead nobody could ever imagine,louise had a very difficult time in pregnancy,she developed diabetes,was confined to a wheelchair she had a floating pelvis,suffered from pre-eclampsia,i had to give up work to care for her it was hard but what the hell i loved this girl and would do anything in the world for her(she made me feel so special).
Anyhow come july louise one wednesday afternoon couldnt move for contracting pain,we quickly rushed to hospital she was 7 weeks early then the 3 days of labour began.I returned home and in the early hours got a phone call to say my little angels was on the way,me and louise sister sarah rushed up in a panic,when i arrived i was told to gown up because they was having to do a emergency c section i was crapping myself.
In theatre i was sat beside louise holding her hand and reassuring her as she was shaking,sweating,slipping in and out of conciousness then at 5 10 am we was presented with this beautiful tiny baby who briefly opened her eyes they was laser blue she was gorgeous our little katie,then 3 minute later a loud cry another cute little darling she was wrapped up and shown to us she also quickly blinked with laser blue eyes and they was ushered off in an incubator to s.c.b.u because they was so tiny.Then next the doors burst open nurses was running everywhere louise was quickly loseing blood there was a complication they gave her 4 units and dealt with it amazingly,my louise was back,i kissed her wiped her brow and said “louise you have done it your beautiful i love you so much”.
Sorry about that im getting all soppy its just how i remembered it,its something i will never forget.Anyhow we eventually got both girls home and after about 3 months katie wouldnt even cry,she was struggling breathing she bloated up and was not at all well we took her back to the hospital where she had test done and the diagnosis was (dilated cardiomyopathy) i sunk to lowest depth you could imagine,as a father you do everything to fix things for your children but this one taken out of my hands,i myself quickly learnt everything there was to know about d.c.m she stayed in hospital quite some time and one night after visiting we came home settled lauren to bed louise complained she didnt feel to good,she was freezing cold as white as snow but sweating profusely i put 2+2 together and something clicked inside i thought this is not right,i rang the emergency doctors(bardoc) they came ten minutes after,the doctor who examined the now very frail louise,he was very worried he diagnosed that she had blood clots in her body it was a possible P.E and wouldnt leave her side till the ambulance arrived.
I shot upstairs grabbed lauren the ambulance came took louise to hospital. She was slowly dying,i thought NO ! NO! not my louise she cannot die! She is not meant to be doing this whats going on(katie now louise,no this is not right).Over the next few weeks she was kept heavily sedated with painkillers there where drips everywhere the whole family came back and forward it was now time to be strong,we slowly but surely nursed her back and then the bomb shell she also has D.C.M .
My world was totally shatterd how i didnt have a nervous breakdown i will never know.But my innerself told me to keep going,so now i had my katie at pendlebury and my louise at N.M.G.H and my little lauren at home,so i was visiting 2 hospitals a day,katie in the moring tending to her feeds,learning about her medication and going seeing my louise at night,seeing louise go through that was the hardest thing to digest the biggest challenge yet.
Louise and katie soon both came home we re-organised as a family adapted to the regime of feeds,medication,the sleepless panicky nights.Then katie deteriorated she almost died at 12 months old with bronchilitis but strong old katie pulled through,the days ran into nights and the such.It was 7 days a week(25)! hours a day constant.
Part of the time i was on auto pilot and coping with it as a family it was a true tester i can tell ya.It certainly woke me up as a person i value life a hell of a lot more it so flaming precious its untrue.Eventually it came to a stage with katie,7am in the morning december 21st 2007 a phone call changed our lives forever”simon its ann at the freemans we have a heart for katie”.
How long i have been waiting to here them words its a miracle i thought,i said”thankyou so much”.I felt selfish thinking like that,a child has just lost its life to renew my daughters life,it was pure mixed emotion but it was my daughters life after all.
Its a unfair world for parents having to make a choice like that but it is so brave of them i carnt even imagine how they are feeling.My everything is theirs i owe them that.But now as i sit here writing im just coming to terms with my daughter lauren who has got a poorly problem with her heart all i can do is pray and pray hard that it doesnt get any worse.
I love and cherish my family even more each and every day.But like they say(smile and the whole world smiles with you,weepand you weep alone).
SIMON XXX
