Shannan Byer had her baby shower on December 16, 2018. Little did she know that her little bundle of joy Ryleigh would arrive two days later and seven weeks early. Her actual due date was February 5, 2019.
While her precious baby Ryleigh would be considered a Christmas blessing, for 25-year-old Shannan, it was the scariest experience of her life.
In recounting the entire ordeal, Shannan said reliving that experience always makes her emotional.
“I had my shower the Sunday. When I got home the night I realised I lost weight, which is weird because normally you gain weight when you’re pregnant. I Google everything, so I went on Google and it said when you’re losing weight it means that labour is coming soon. I was a bit concerned because I knew I still had seven weeks to go.”
“So then the Monday I went to work and realised I had a lot of pain in my stomach, so I just thought it was because she was dropping and stuff like that. The Tuesday I woke up and got ready for work and the pain was so much worse. I called my OB and she said that she thinks it may be pre-eclampsia,” Shannan recalled.
Despite the pain, she went to work since she knew she would soon be out for an extended period of time on maternity leave.
She made it through that day, but when she got home that evening things took a turn for the worse and Shannan’s entire world was turned upside down in the blink of an eye. (DB)
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