‘He fought for himself throughout the whole pregnancy’

A DONORE woman who tested positive for coronavirus when she was eight months pregnant says she was “petrified” of passing the deadly disease on to her unborn baby.

Dionne O’Rourke Ryan (36) and husband Eddie Ryan tried desperately for seven years to fall pregnant with their son who they call their “miracle.”

Their dream soon turned to a nightmare when Dionne was diagnosed with Covid-19 at 36 weeks pregnant.

Little Bradán Fergus Ryan’s entry into the world was not without drama but thankfully he was born safely on 18th April weighing just under five pounds and virus free following a caesarean section in the Rotunda Hospital in Dublin.

Dionne describes having a “whirlwind pregnancy” from developing Hyperemesis, a condition that results in severe and debilitating sickness and Pre-eclampsia causing high blood pressure topped off by contracting Covid-19 in her third trimester.

She said: “It has been such an experience that both of us have been on together. He fought for himself throughout the whole pregnancy.

“I was so weak at points that I didn’t think I was able to go on with everything being so difficult and trying to catch my breath such a struggle. I didn’t know whether we were going to make a full pregnancy with him but he is a little trooper, he is so strong and he kept going.

“It was one of those experiences that I could only describe that I felt like as if it wasn’t real. I felt that it wasn’t happening to me.

“It was so heart-breaking to know that my husband Eddie was at home and we had planned so long for this pregnancy and birth and he just wanted to be a part of it as well and he couldn’t be.

“I am so happy he is here safe and well but it was a horrible experience and I never want to go through anything like it again.”

The new mum describes the trauma of “struggling to breathe” with just a few weeks to go to her due date.

“It was literally a couple of weeks ago that I started getting pains in my chest and I thought it was heartburn.

“It started getting a lot worse and going into my back and I contacted my GP and she thought it might have been just a chest infection so she gave me antibiotics but they didn’t work.

“I was just getting worse and in the end I was tested for Covid-19 in Navan on the 8th of April and they told me that it would be about a week to get the results.

“The Rotunda were just a little bit concerned because of the fact that I was so short of breath so they did their own test on the 9th and that came back negative.

“On the Friday night I started getting worse and I was really struggling to catch a breath so my husband brought me straight into the Rotunda on the Saturday morning.

“The minute I walked in the door, they were fully gowned with masks and goggles on, the only way I can describe it is like being in a sci-fi film.

“They thought the test results were a false negative so they kept me in isolation in a single room on an isolation ward for corona patients so I had limited access to anybody.

“They were only coming in every three hours to monitor the baby and myself and leaving the room as quickly as they could.

“I was petrified. It was the worst experience because when you see them walking in the room with all of the gear and you know how precious your pregnancy is.

“I was 36 weeks pregnant and so scared that I might not be able to continue with the pregnancy, I thought something might happen to him because there is still no medical information to state that babies aren’t affected by coronavirus within the pregnancy.

“We had been trying for years to get pregnant so he has been a blessing for us. We thought we were going to have to go through IVF and then in the end I ended up getting pregnant naturally which was a shock to all of us.”

Dionne who lives in Blanchardstown with husband Eddie says “loneliness during the most vulnerable time of her life” was the hardest thing to cope with.

“That was the worst part, the loneliness and feeling like you can’t do anything about it, just pray that you’ll be okay but it was so hard not having my husband there just to even pop in and say hello.

“The doctors were so amazing in the hospital and they kept reassuring me and trying to make sure that I was ok by checking the baby and checking the heart beat and his movements.

“On the Monday I got the phone call for my GP to say the test came back positive and at that point that’s when the realisation hit me that the pregnancy could be at risk and that I just couldn’t understand how I got it I was so careful.

“I was moved to a six bed coronavirus ward, the red area in the hospital that was specifically a full coronavirus ward that was really daunting, it felt so surreal.

“My fear then was going into labour because it was my first pregnancy so I was petrified of going through it on my own.

“I found out literally two hours before I went down that I was getting the caesarean and Eddie wasn’t allowed in so I literally had to Facetime my family to say that I’m going to have a baby in a couple of hours.

“I think that I was the first patient to have a C section with coronavirus in the hospital.

“It was scary not knowing whether or not I passed the virus on to him.

“When he came out he literally cried straight away and I was absolutely sobbing.”

It has been a long road for the couple who say they are ‘in awe’ of their little boy.

“They tested him twice for the virus and thankfully we got the results back and they were negative.

“We were initially told we were coming home last Wednesday and Eddie was on his way to pick us up and literally within minutes’ doctors came down and said ‘no sorry we can’t let you go we need to get more tests done’.

“So Eddie drove past the hospital and stopped in the middle of the road and I went to the window of the hospital and that was the first time he saw him in the flesh.

“That’s what broke my heart, the first time we saw his son was through a window of a three storey building and he stopped in the middle of the road, stopping traffic to try and have a look at him.

Proud dad Eddie said it was at that moment that emotion hit him.

“I pulled up outside the hospital and got the phone call they wouldn't be coming home so I sat there and cried like a big baby.

“But they came home the next day and they are both doing great which is the most important thing.”

“He is just such a feisty little fighter. The doctors said he has a feistiness in him that’s keeping him going,” adds Dionne.

“I look at him and I am absolutely in awe.

“For women that are scared of getting through the pregnancy with Covid-19, it’s difficult, it’s tough but you do get through it.

“It’s an experience I will never forget in a hurry but it’s one that myself and Bradán have been through together and if anything I think it will make me love him a little bit extra.”