Reece Rooney (2006

This memorial website was created in the memory of our loved one, Reece Christopher Rooney who was born sleeping 11 weeks early on the 31/05/2006 at 14.31pm born at Wishaw General Hospital Scotland, weighing in at a tiny but perfectly formed 2lb and 37.5cm long with the most cutest wee chubby cheeks (just like his dad) and as his granda said "big goal keepers hands"...

MY STORY

I cant really describe how happy I was when I found out that I was pregnant, it was one of the best days of my life and I imagine it to be better than winning the lottery....This baby was to be the first grandchild on both sides of the family so it was a very exciting time for all....The pregnancy was problem free and I never had one day were I felt unwell apart from the odd day were I had heart burn but that was nothing to complain about and I had gained a few pounds which was to be expected. As each week passed I longed to hold my baby and just admire how beautiful it was and I was getting so excited.
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On Monday 22/05/06 me and my partner Chris had booked in for one of those 4d scans as I was now 28 weeks pregnant. Oh what an experience, absolutely amazing...just seeing my baby’s gorgeous face I felt very emotional and couldn't believe it was growing inside of me, kicking and moving and everything was perfect and looked healthy...on the Thursday 25/05 I was booked in for my routine anti natal appointment and again everything was normal. The rest of that week and the weekend passed and I still felt good apart from feeling tired but just put it down to being 29 weeks pregnant.
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On the Monday in work I felt strange and never felt the baby move which was unusual but just thought that the baby was maybe sleeping and that it would soon start to kick and punch but it never. When I went home from work I mentioned it to Chris and he said not too worry but to run it past the local maternity hospital which I did and they advised me to drink cold water and move around and if still no movement to go straight over were they would listen in. I followed these instructions and had a horrible gut feeling that something terrible had happened. As I walked through the doors of the hospital my heart was pounding...We were met by a young midwife who showed us to one of the labour suites were she would monitor the heart beat which wasn't there. She then called one of the consultants who brought a scanning machine but still no heart beat could be traced....my whole world fell apart..........even more so that I had to give birth to my beautiful baby but would never hear it cry...The next few hours in the hospital were a bit of a blur to be honest as I was in total shock and was hoping that I would wake from this horrible nightmare but it wasn't it was really happening. I remember just sitting on the bed shaking my head and thinking NO, this cannot happen to me as I have done everything right. Chris had to make the dreaded phone call to our parents to let them know. This had not only turned our world upside down but was going to turn theirs too. An hour later my parents and Chris’s had arrived at the hospital where we all sat in the room in total disbelief and shock and continually asking WHY this has happened. This is a question that might never be answered...Now putting all the questions and WHY'S aside all that was now going through my head was the fact that I was going to have to deliver this baby and the thought of going through not only the mental but physical pain and for me not to have this amazing thing at the end was tearing at my heart....It all seemed a lot for me to take in that night as there were several midwifes/consultants coming in and discussing things like post-mortems and funerals etc. It felt like I was being repeatedly kicked or punished for something... I felt as if I would never be happy again......How wrong was I?
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THE BEST DAY OF MY LIFE

On Wednesday 31/05/06 this would be the day I would finally meet my gorgeous baby....Having barely slept the night before with worry I felt strange in the morning as I wasn't as scared anymore but felt a bit excited as I was now going to be a mum and no one could take that away from me. On the way to the hospital it seemed like it was taking hours to get there and all I could hear was my mum crying in the back. She knew what I was going to have to go through and seeing her child in pain and she couldn't do anything to help me was tearing her apart. Chris was trying to be strong for both of us but I knew deep down he was terrified. When we arrived at the hospital my heart was racing as I didn't know what to expect. We were given a private room which was almost like a hotel with TV, CD player and small sofa. We were allowed unlimited visitors at anytime of the day. Chris was also allowed to stay with me. After only an hour of arriving at the hospital my labour was to be induced. I was praying that it would be a quick labour and thank god it was. In just under 4hrs I had delivered my beautiful son Reece. I was overcome with happiness. It's a hard feeling to describe and only a mother would know. The sadness had gone and I was grateful that I had the chance to meet my son. We had done everything that we would have done if he had been alive. Chris cut the cord then he was wrapped in his own towel and handed straight on to me then he was dressed in the outfit that his uncle Steve had bought for him and placed in a moses basket were he would sleep next to me and Chris. I knew the next day was going to be very hard as I was going to have to leave him in the hospital but I knew I would get to see him again the following week before he was buried. Don’t really remember much about the rest of that night as I had been taken to theatre as the placenta had not come away itself and would have to be removed. This was another kick in the teeth. Surprisingly I did get a few hours sleep that night but woke up at about 07.00 and I just remember looking in the moses basket at the side of me and thinking WHY ME??? Then I could hear the midwifes chatting outside the room and they had the radio playing and a song came on that would be so ironic “there must be an angel" by Annie Lennox..Of all the songs that there are that one came on....I felt as if he was telling me that he would always be there and not to worry. As you can imagine the rest of that day was filled with tears......

WHY WHY WHY??? I still ask this everyday...but only god knows....

This candle was made for Reece by a SANDS friend