Ollie's Backstory

In Loving Memory of

Ollie James Watson
16.10.21

My partner Reece and I decided to try for a baby following lockdown and managed to conceive very quickly. We were absolutely thrilled when we saw the second blue line on the test, he was our first baby. Aside from suffering from dreadful morning sickness and nausea from weeks 6–14 I sailed through my pregnancy with no complications. We had a beautiful baby shower, gender reveal and decorated his nursery with Dumbo elephants and bears.

Ollie was a very cheeky baby. He liked it when I ate strawberries and drank pineapple juice, he enjoyed loud music and always kicked when his daddy talked to him in my tummy. He was often very stubborn and covered his little face with his hands when we went for scans! He was a sleepy boy like his dad and was always yawning and hiccupping. He grew beautifully to plan and was like a little octopus wriggling around in my tummy. His nickname was ‘Bobs’ short for Olliebobs and ‘Bobbles’.

At 40 weeks + 4 days Ollie still hadn’t made his appearance so the midwife advised a sweep, which went perfectly fine. I was sitting at home following the procedure and suddenly felt a popping sensation. I rushed to the bathroom and saw a huge amount of blood. It was clear I was having a haemorrhage. I called the Labour Ward and they advised I came into hospital immediately; However, I knew it was too late, I hadn’t felt Ollie move for a while and knew he had gone.

The Midwife finally attached the straps and started the Doppler, nothing happened. She told me ‘His shoulder is probably just in the way’ and moved me into several different positions but we still heard nothing. The doctor attended and repeated the same exercise, he told us ‘I’m sorry, I’m not detecting a heartbeat’. What followed is a blur, the world seemed to stop, and I felt like I was watching myself on a TV screen, that this could not be happening to us. I remember looking at the Midwifes face who was as shocked as we were. He was 4 days overdue. I was then told my life was in danger due to the haemorrhage and that my placenta had abrupted.

Ollie was delivered at 06.42am, via forceps delivery after a 12 hour labour. He was taken next door where he was cared for by the midwives and washed and dressed. I haemorrhaged post labour and was administered further oxytocin to contract my womb after delivery of the placenta. The doctor took my mum and Reece into a room, with my consent and explained he believed the cause of death to be placenta abruption and had identified the blood clot behind the placenta. We took some comfort from the fact that it would have been instant, and Ollie would not have known much about what was happening, I also took comfort from the fact that he died with me listening to my heartbeat, so he knew his mummy was with him. Leaving the hospital without a baby was honestly the most harrowing and painful experience I have ever encountered.
The hours, days and weeks that followed were the darkest of my life, but somehow, I made it through by taking things hour by hour. We were very lucky to have a strong support network of friends and family who made things a little more bearable for us.

Almost 5 months later I dedicate my time to telling his story by raising awareness about baby loss, writing, campaigning and creating handmade Octopuses to gift to other bereaved families to raise money for charity. Ollie has changed my life for the better, he made me a mother, even though he passed away he has taught me how to live. How to be grateful for every day we are gifted and experience life through his eyes. We miss him every second of every day and he will always be the brightest star in the sky.

Mummy and Daddy love you forever,

until we meet again xx