With three miscarriage scares and constant bleeding from 15 weeks, Jenny struggled with constant pain, lack of sleep and plenty of travel between her hometown of Carnamah, about 300km from Perth, and the nearest hospital. Eventually, Jenny was admitted to King Edward Memorial Hospital; Western Australia’s sole tertiary-level perinatal centre. With husband Adam and two-year-old son Luke in tow, Jenny and her family adjusted to life away from home, which would extend much longer after her impending birth.
On September 10, 2009, Jenny experienced a very painful contraction while sitting in the waiting room at the hospital with other expectant mothers. At just 24 weeks and five day’s gestation, she knew that it was all happening far too early. “On the way to a scheduled ultrasound my uterus just went into a spasm. I was told it contracted and then never went back down,” she said.
Following an emergency caesarean section, Hayley was born and immediately taken to the intensive care unit. “I got a photo that night and my husband left with her and then I didn’t get to see her until the next day,” Jenny said.
The next day, and a further 97 days after that, would be some of the toughest for baby Hayley.
Born at just 740g, she struggled with all the usual problems premature babies face, including her weight, feeding, retinopathy, blood transfusions and viral issues. “She looked awful. She looked like an alien,” Jenny said. “The first few photos you put on Facebook of your baby, I couldn’t put them up because her skin was so see-through and she was in bubble wrap. I couldn’t hold her until at least five days, or maybe a week after she was born because she was too delicate.”
After nearly 100 days in hospital, the Bulloch family were finally able to return home to their normal life in the country with their two healthy children.
Just a few years later, the Bulloch family would receive the surprising news that they would soon become five, with the impending birth of baby Sophie. “I always had an awful, negative feeling ending on that pregnancy, so I felt having Sophie helped me. It was good therapy” she said.
Fast-forward to today and Hayley is like any other 12 year-old running around the playground. “She is perfect now, so feisty and stubborn and all the rest. We are very lucky,” Jenny said.
