We were engaged when I had my accident, and we'd always known that we were going to try for children at some point.  Initially, we were concerned that the injury might stop that, but the staff at Stanmore let us know very early on that it wasn't going to affect anything.

When I was pregnant, the GP and midwife asked me if I could have a natural birth; I thought they'd be able to tell me!  I was really surprised at how little they knew, I presumed they'd seen people with similar injuries before, and it did make us a bit worried.  Stanmore were really helpful, although even there we had differences of opinion, but locally there wasn't much that was reassuring.  In the end, of course, it was all OK and Holly was born early which took away the need for a decision about a natural birth or caesarean anyway.

it's tiring, but a good tiring.

Buying a pushchair was an absolute nightmare.  My injury affects my hands and I just couldn't fold most of them down.  We went to lots of different shops, and the staff tell you that they have easy to use, single hand mechanisms, but that didn't mean I could do it.  It was frustrating to see one we liked, be told it was easy to use, and then not be able to work it.  It took some of the excitement away.  We did find one, though, and my other half, Shane, built an adaptation so that it fits on to my wheelchair - I need one of those 'long vehicle' signs when I'm using it, but it means that Holly and I can go out together.

Because of my hands I was worried about how I'd handle Holly, and how I'd manage generally.  When we were in hospital I felt really self-conscious with everyone standing around and looking and I left a lot of it to Shane; I wanted to try things without an audience.  And yes, things are a bit more difficult, but it's actually all fine, there haven't been any problems.  We've put a fridge and bottle warmer upstairs as well as down so at night it's easier and quicker to get to; we've coped really well.  She's a great baby; it's tiring, but a good tiring.

I think anyone who is having a baby is nervous, perhaps we were just concerned with different things.  As Holly grows I'm going to have to start thinking about whether I'll be able to keep up when she decides to run off ... hopefully she'll learn not to!  And her getting heavier may present some issues.  We've learnt, though, that you can always adapt things and come up with ways that work.  It's all going to be interesting and fun.

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