The son of 34-year-old Natalie Donnelly was born dead. The heartbroken woman began to gorge herself on junk food to pretend she was still pregnant.
Natalie and Tony started dating when they were only 16 years old. As soon as young people reached the age of majority – as we remember, under American law it is 21 years old – they got married. Thirteen years later, Tony and Natalie are ripe to become parents. The idea was bold from the start. The fact is that the girl suffered from a congenital heart defect. And pregnancy would be a very strong test for her. But she made up her mind.
Natalie had to undergo additional tests, analyzes and examinations. And everything was perfect. The pregnancy was going well. Until the day the birth was scheduled. More precisely, a planned cesarean.
On that very day, at 9 o’clock in the morning, Natalie underwent CTG – everything was in order. A few hours later, during a second examination, the midwife told her that the child had died.
“I couldn’t believe it,” Natalie recalls now. – The doctors said that something happened to the placenta, the child did not receive enough oxygen and simply suffocated. On June 3, they removed the body of my son Lucas from me. And he was perfect. “
It is not easy for any woman to take out such a blow. Natalie did not immediately manage to cope with the grief that befell her.
“This is something that you can never forget, you can’t stop worrying about it. When I was still in the hospital, Tony said that he took baby things out of my bag. I told him to leave them, because they will be needed. “
Natalie’s belly naturally began to subside. And this upset her greatly. As well as the fact that friends began to congratulate her on the birth of her son – they did not even suspect that Lucas had died.
“I didn’t want to admit that I had lost my child. Together with Lucas, I lost hope and stopped taking care of myself, says Natalie. – If I had my tummy, I could tell myself that I am still pregnant. Even though she would understand intellectually that in reality it is not. “
Before pregnancy, Natalie wore size 42. After the death of the baby, she began to seize her grief – and gorge on the “pregnant” belly. She ate an unimaginable amount of junk food. Natalie’s day began with crisps, which she ate for breakfast. Buttered toast, muffins, fast food and more chips are her menu for the day.
“I could eat normal food that Tony prepared for dinner. But then I still gnawed at her with chips, ”the woman recalls.
Several years have passed. In the end, Natalie and her husband decided they were ready to try again. But she could no longer get pregnant. She recovered so much that she could no longer conceive. Her body mass index (weight in kilograms divided by the square of her height in meters) was 32 units. An indicator from 18 to 25 is considered the norm. The doctors said that they would not be able to help a woman if her BMI did not drop to at least 29. And she managed in just a month, giving up alcohol and starting to eat right.
The diet worked. Natalie became pregnant and at the appointed time the couple had a daughter. The girl was named Fern – Fern. Poetic.
“She is great. She is beautiful in everything. And so I want to be slim again. For her sake, Natalie decided.
At the thought that she looks bad and something needs to be done, the young mother was prompted by a joint trip to Disneyland. Everything was fine there. Except for photographs.
“I hated these pictures. I had 20 chins on them, explains Natalie. – I didn’t like looking at myself. I was more than I thought. “
The once skinny girl weighed 95 kilograms at that time. Pretty quickly, she lost 12 kilograms – just by starting a diet.
“I don’t want to become a model. I just want to be slender, happy and healthy again, and not this short breathing fat creature, ”Natalie voices her motivation.
And what about Lucas? Lucas will forever remain a member of the family.
“Tony has a tattoo on his chest with his name and date of birth. I have the same on my leg. It turns out that I walk with him every day. I will never forget Lucas. But I don’t want Fern to have a fat mom. I want to be the best mom for my wonderful daughter, ”added Natalie.