First (& last time?!) Mum: My Sickle Cell Journey - A True Story

By Esi Acey Eghan

"I didn't realise it would be 'a life for a life' looking back now. I thought it would be amazing.

Life changing in a good way. I'd even go so far as saying that I thought it would be the making of me as a woman. Or at least be the 'adaptation' of me, in the best possible way."

Come along and join Esi on her j

• Language: English
• Publisher: Esi Acey Eghan
• Release date: Aug 26, 2022
• ISBN: 9781802276060

Book preview

CHAPTER 1

Welcome to Motherhood

Ididn’t realise it would be ‘a life for a life’ looking back now. I thought it would be amazing. Life changing in a good way. I’d even go so far as saying that I thought it would be the making of me as a woman. Or at least be the ‘adaptation’ of me, in the best possible way. An extension of me. You see, I was a happy-go-lucky type of person. The ‘yummy mummy’ phrase was practically made for me. I was proud of my bump, talking to it, playing music to it with my earphones pressed against my growing belly, or blasting my tunes in my car, as I drove to and from work around London, as a floating support worker in mental health. I took it in my stride and did everything I could to enjoy this special time. The excitement was real!

One of the first things I immediately signed up for was pregnancy yoga. Although I must admit, by the end of each session, I would often be left feeling guilty almost, as the other mums-to-be were complaining about the usual things that occur alongside pregnancy. Strangely enough, I didn’t get a single side effect. No sickness, no heartburn, no swollen feet or ankles, no headaches — nothing. Not that I wanted side effects, of course, but we did think it was a bit strange not to have any at all. Too good to be true even! My partner and I even joked that we hoped the birth would be okay, seeing as the pregnancy had been such a breeze so far.

Fast forward to around the 33/34-week mark and very sadly, it was ‘too good to be true’, in the sense that the pregnancy would continue to go so smoothly.

However, nothing or nobody could have prepared us for what was to follow…

CHAPTER 2

A New Beginning?

What should have been the beginning of the best time of our lives together, quickly became, quite frankly, the beginning of a living nightmare.

It’s funny now, (not in the literal sense, of course) how at the time, our baby having or not having sickle cell anemia was our only concern. Obviously, we knew I had the full-blown disorder; I’d been open and honest about this from the very beginning. Personally, I’ve always viewed my condition as relatively ‘minimal’ as I’d hardly be sick and I was able to lead a relatively ‘normal’ life in terms of being able to access and complete education through school, college and university, gaining employment, and doing other normal things, like going on holiday with my friends. It’s only now after going through this experience myself, that I have undeniably been made fully aware of the severity of having sickle cell anemia and the complications it can and does bring.

Sickle cell anemia is an inherited blood disorder. From the age of three months is when the symptoms first become apparent, indicating that there is an abnormality, causing different severities of pain within the body at any given time, to any part of the body, including main organs. This is as a result of the blood transitioning from foetal haemoglobin (HbF), to then producing a defective form of haemoglobin called haemoglobin S (HbS), instead of the normal adult haemoglobin (HbA). When faulty, a HbS gene is formed instead, it ignites the red blood cells to change from their round shape into a sticky, hard and rigid ‘sickle’ shape — hence the name ‘sickle cell’ anemia. These deformed red blood cells make it extremely hard to pass through the blood vessels needed to reach the vital organs. It’s important to note here that unfortunately these are all important things, I’ve had to learn along the way, during the pregnancy and most definitely way beyond. Still to this day I continue to learn more about my condition.

Hakeem, my partner, did not know his genotype. Through my journey, unfortunately, what I’ve come to realise is it is common that many people do not know their genotype either. Nevertheless, it is generally, and was personally, very important, as collectively with my known health status being sickle cell anemia SC, it could’ve potentially affected our unborn baby, if he, as the baby’s father, had at least the trait, for example. Our collectively unknown combination could’ve been detrimental. It was a potentially