Sinead with Jonas and Ardal (Picture: SWNS)
A mum who lost four babies in four years has shared her happiness at welcoming a healthy little one.
Mum-of-two Sinead Lynch, 33, welcomed baby Ardal 12 weeks ago after trying for a baby for four years.
Sinead and partner Daniel Kenyon, 44, already had a child called Jonas, six, but there were no issues with that pregnancy.
Sadly, trying for another baby was not so easy and was a journey of heartache after four pregnancies ended in a loss.
Sinead had to deliver two babies in the second trimester and two which were on the cusp of being classified stillborn.
Medics eventually diagnosed Sinead with a immune disorder called CHI. This causes the body to attack pregnancy cells. Finding out about the condition gave the family hope.
Sinead was told repeatedly by medics to keep trying but she felt doctors were ignoring the mental trauma of losing a child, as well as carrying that child physically.
The family, from Stockport, near Manchester, have kept mementoes the babies they have lost and are involved in charities supporting families who have suffered similar.
Sinead with baby Ardal after birth (Picture: Daniel Kenyon/SWNS)
Their daughter Pearl died at 20 weeks in 2018 and in 2019 another pregnancy ended at 12 weeks.
In 2020, during lockdown, Sinead gave birth to baby Rian, who also passed away at 20 weeks, despite paying for a private scan at 17 weeks.
Sinead had to shield in 2021 while taking immunotherapy drugs to get her through another pregnancy. Devastatingly, this baby was lost at 11 weeks due to a molar pregnancy.
Post-mortem examinations on both Pearl and Rian showed both were healthy, which further added to the heartache.
Sinead said: ‘When I’d lost three babies in or close to the second trimester, I couldn’t find anybody else who’d been through what we’d been through.
‘I work in a nursery and would look at some of the children and think “that’s the age Rian would be.”
‘It was hard when other mums say “my oldest child was born during lockdown,” you want to tell people how long the journey has been.
‘When I see people who’ve had multiple babies in the time we’ve had one it is a bit difficult.
Beautiful baby Ardal (Picture: Daniel Kenyon/SWNS)
‘For a lot of new mums there’s an innocence to it, and you don’t want to bring the mood down by talking about it.’
The couple have now decided not to have anymore children.
‘I couldn’t do it, we’ve put our lives on hold for four years,’ she explained.
‘We’d go away but never more than an hour away from the hospital during the pregnancy with Ardal. I’m from Ireland and hadn’t been back until October in case something happened.
‘In 2021 before I’d been vaccinated I had to shield, I took our son out of nursery. I got pregnant but it ended up being a molar pregnancy.
‘After that loss I got the job I’m in now. Covid put a spanner in the works for people going through what we’ve been through.
‘I had covid during the most recent pregnancy but it was fine because I was vaccinated. Jonas is so happy, he’s obsessed with his little brother.
‘If I say “my two best boys” he points at the sky.
Sinead with her two boys (Picture: Daniel Kenyon/SWNS)
‘He knows there were four, he’s got friends who have lost siblings. When we told him I was pregnant at 24 weeks, one of the first things he asked was: “Is the baby going to die?”
‘We said “we hope not, we don’t think so.”
‘I couldn’t say no. I’m happy because things have worked out, he hopefully feels more positive now.’
Professor Alexander Heazell, who is the lead consultant at the Rainbow Clinic – which is a collaboration between the charity Tommy’s, the University of Manchester, and Manchester University NHS Foundation Trust – oversaw the pregnancy.
Sinead was determined that nothing would go wrong.
‘I’d asked for the placenta from Rian to be tested for CHI after being told about it,’ she said.
Ardal is described as a dream baby (Picture: Daniel Kenyon/SWNS)
‘I was told it was clear, but Professor Heazell diagnosed the condition. A lot of doctors don’t believe in the immune link.
‘One of them said “you’re young, keep trying again.”
‘It doesn’t matter if you’re 21, going through pregnancy takes a physical and mental toll.
‘I don’t enjoy being pregnant, the first trimester with being really sick and tired, I’ve been through six times. With another child and a job, you can’t keep doing that.’
Thankfully, the family is now blessed with new baby Ardal who they said is a ‘dream baby.’
Sinead beamed: ‘I was worried he would be stressed out but he’s a chilled out baby.’
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She was diagnosed with an autoimmune disorder called CHI.
