A mom is learning to walk again after suffering a stroke when she was 37 weeks pregnant. Thankfully doctors were able to successfully deliver her son, but she didn’t wake up to meet him until 10 days after his arrival.
According to The Belfast Telegraph, Ciara Murray of Ireland had an easy pregnancy up until the stroke. In October 2015, she was 37 weeks along when she started to feel a little sick after breakfast.
Her husband had already left for work, and she made her way to her bedroom to lie down, but she couldn’t make it to her bed. She collapsed on the ground and couldn’t get up. For seven hours, she fell in and out of consciousness.
"My husband was at work and I couldn't get up at all to get the phone. Every time I tried to pull myself up, I kept slipping down," Ciara told The Belfast Telegraph. "I couldn't feel the baby at all. I was far more worried about him than myself. I thought I had just fainted."
Her husband, John, finally made it home at 6:30 p.m. and found his wife on the ground.
“I was so glad to hear the key in the door,” recalled Ciara.
An ambulance took her to the hospital where doctors discovered a blood clot in her brain. Thankfully, scans showed her baby boy was just fine.
She was taken into surgery where the blood clot was removed and doctors performed a cesarean section.
Doctors put her in an induced coma for 10 days. When she woke up, she finally got to meet her baby boy for the first time.
“They didn’t tell me before the surgery that I was going to give birth,” said Ciara. “I woke up on November 10, which happened to be my husband’s 35th birthday. The nurse told me the date and I said, ‘That’s John’s birthday.'”
The nursed explained that she had a healthy baby boy. John brought him into the room.
“I could hardly move but he just lay there on my chest. He was just a wee tiny bundle, but he was perfect,” said Ciara.
Baby James is now 15 months old and did not suffer any complications from the stroke.
Ciara is still recovering and now relies on a wheelchair to get around. She working to regain her ability to walk.
She said she and her son are learning to walk at the same time.
“He’s full of energy and he’s ready to walk at the minute. We’re both trying to get on our feet at the same time,” said Ciara.
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