Barry and I welcomed the most delightful blue-eyed baby girl into the world on 14 March, 2000 at Stoke Mandeville Hospital as Abba’s ‘Dancing Queen’ played in the background.

After a 12 hour labour our 9lb beauty was safely in our arms. I slept afterwards and Barry told me he just sat, gently cradling our daughter staring at her.  When I woke Barry carried me to the adjoining bathroom and bathed me, bleeding and exhausted, it was one of the kindest, most romantic (odd as that sounds) things any living soul has ever done for me, I treasure the memory and the feeling of love I felt, for our daughter, my partner, our life.

It took us a week to name our baby girl. We asked Brady who took her role as Big Sister very, very seriously what she felt we should name her baby sister, after much serious deliberation ‘Tulipearl’ was the response. Brady who adored all things fairy loved a poem which described the fairy word Tulipearl as meaning ‘more than love’.

We named our blonde haired blue eyed girl Ola Tulipearl.

Our life was perfect.

Brady proudly wearing her “I’m a Big Sister” t-shirt and our baby Ola not even 24 hours old.