Codey Kuzma - My birth story


It's finally time to introduce baby Codey Kuzma to our family. 
Born 8 weeks early on 25th February 2023 at 4.07pm weighing 4lb 3oz. 

To say I wasn't expecting to write this post now and have it published is a slight understatement. If 
everything went according to plan then this would've been posted in May, however things don't always go 
how you imagined and this is just that. I don't quite know what to write or how I'm supposed to tell my 
birth story, since I don't fully know what happened yet myself, however I want to share as much as I can, 
both to look back on but also to reassure those who may have had a similar experience to myself or are 
interested in reading other peoples stories.

The week of his birth was a long week. Tuesday 21st February, I went into hospital to be monitored as he 
was having reduced movements. Of course by the time I got there he was having a party in my tummy
 and was happier than ever. As a precaution we had to go in the next 2 days to be monitored to make sure 
everything was ok and they moved my ultrasound to the Friday. The monitoring went well and he was 
happily moving around and his heart rate was all normal and as they should be, which was great!

At his ultrasound on Friday he was healthy and everything was, again, as it should be. The only thing 
they said was he was measuring around 5lb 2oz, which is bigger than  he should for 32 weeks. They 
recommended I come in for another gestational diabetes test the following day, which I was happy to 
do, as that could be a result of him gaining weight so quickly in such a short amount of time.


TRIGGER WARNING - Mentioning of being ill and throwing up

Saturday 25th February I woke up around 1.30am convinced I was having contractions. My stomach 
was tightening every few minutes, but as I was only 32 weeks I put it down to Braxton hicks and a slight 
stomach ache. As this was my first pregnancy aswell, I found it it hard to determine if it was truly 
contractions as I had no idea what they should feel like. About 30 minutes later I threw up and was 
even more convinced it was just a bad stomach ache. I woke up about 2 hours later and was then 
vomiting every 15 minutes until 1pm. As I was being sick so often I was retching a lot and there was 
not a lot coming up, other than stomach acid. 

My stomach pains got worse due to how often I was throwing up for, I couldn’t sleep because I was 
waking up every 15 minutes to be sick again, I was becoming weak and couldn't walk as I couldn’t 
keep anything down, not even water, and my stomach pain was getting worse as my muscles were 
tightening every time I was being sick.

I didn't want to phone the hospital as I had been there for 4 days in a row and was scared that I was being 
worried for no reason. I did eventually phone the doctors around 1pm, and they advised me to go in and be 
checked even though they think it's most likely a 24 hour stomach bug. Thankfully my partner just got 
home and we was at the hospital within 30 minutes. 

They hooked me up to a monitor and did a urine test which confirmed I needed some fluids as I was 
dehydrated. The doctor then came in to see me, and turned the monitor away which is when we knew 
something wasn't right. We didn't really get an explanation but he said he wasn’t happy with the baseline 
of baby’s heart rate. They then moved me to the labour and delivery ward, at the time they said this was to 
keep an eye on me as I needed fluids, but I think they were trying to keep me calm. 


I was moved onto the labour and delivery wars within 45 minutes of coming to the hospital. As soon as I 
got onto the labour and delivery ward there were doctors and nurses coming in and out of the room. I tried 
to ask questions and find out what was happening but I was so distracted I couldn't. I had a temperature of 
38.9 and when mixed with other factors and how ill I was, they believe that I had sepsis, which was making baby work double and become distressed. 

They decided to prep me for a c-section as they said it’s best to get me ready and not need one, than rush 
around at the last minute. I was trying my best to stay calm but as soon as c-section was mentioned I 
started crying. I was so scared and everything happened so fast. My partner couldn’t help or do anything 
and was trying his best to calm me down. 

They gave me 2 injections, one to slow down the contractions (which they confirmed I was having) as 
they were getting stronger and the other was in relation to the baby’s lungs as he was so early. The 
baseline of his heart rate wasn’t improving and the injections weren't working so they rushed me down
 for an emergency c-section. I was bombarded with information, questions and forms to fill out incase 
anything went wrong and felt so overwhelmed. The original plan was to have a spinal so I could be awake 
during the c-section, as the majority of patients are, meaning that my partner could be there also. He 
quickly got changed into his scrubs and headed down with me. However as soon as I got into theatre they 
said that they needed to put me under general anaesthetic as baby was getting more distressed and needed 
to come now. Unfortunately this meant that my partner couldn’t be there and had to wait outside. 


Baby Codey Kuzma arrived at 4.07 Saturday 25th February. 

I'm going to speak about the rest in my 'after the birth' post, as it's been a wild journey and this post is 
already long enough. But Codey was then transferred to the neonatal unit an hour after he was born, and 
transferred to another hospital later that night due to needing ventilation. A week later he was allowed to 
be transferred to the hospital where he was born, making it easier to visit him. He was only on oxygen for 
2 days and only needed support in relation to his feeding. 

There's still a lot more to share about his journey, and it's definitely been one that I didn't 
expect but I wouldn't have it any other way. We are beyond blessed and in love with him 
and can't wait to watch him grow! 

Welcome to the world little one!

xoxo
Lea-Mai

8 comments

  1. Congratulations lovely he is adorable! I'm glad you shared your birth story, I found it so reassuring reading other people's birth stories after I'd given birth.
    Amy xx
    callmeamy.co.uk

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    1. Thank you! I only had a chance to read a few, but it's so nice reading other peoples journeys x

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  2. Congratulations to you all. I'm sorry you had such a difficult time. Wishing you all the best as a family! X

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    1. Thank you! Definitely wasn't what I had planned, but glad he's here safely x

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  3. Congratulations lovely, Codey is adorable! I'm so sorry you had a difficult time, but I'm glad everything was ok in the end x

    Lucy Mary

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    1. Thank you! Crazy to think how his journey has started x

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  4. Wow what a birth story! Welcome to the world gorgeous Codey and welcome to motherhood. I was an emergency c section mama and it is so tough so be kind to yourself!! Always here if you need a moan

    Rosie

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    Replies
    1. Thank you lovely! Not what I had planned, but he's here which is what matters x

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