A two-day-old baby boy’s parents were left heartbroken after he passed away from a rare condition.
Mom Jessica and dad Adam were over the moon when baby August Joseph was born on September 20.
“I didn’t want to take my eyes off him for a second, and neither did his dad,” Jessica shared.
“We were both so relieved he had arrived here safe and sound. After seeing his beautiful little face, we knew the name we had picked out suited him – our son was now August Joseph,” she said.
“Due to the current coronavirus restrictions, there are no visitors allowed on the postnatal ward, but I thought to myself, ‘That doesn’t matter, we will be home soon enough.’”
However, the parents from North Yorkshire were left heartbroken when their baby boy was diagnosed with an incurable disease.
Only a day after August was born, Jessica noticed that he was sweating and knew that something was wrong. Her baby was then moved to a neonatal unit.
“I went with August – it was the furthest I’d walked since the c-section,” the 28-year-old mother said. “I no longer cared about myself, I just wanted to be with my son to make sure he was safe.
“I stood and watched as they moved him into an incubator and started attaching wires to monitor him.
“I felt useless, I just wanted to hold my son and tell him everything was going to be okay.”
The mother was transferred to a private room and she was only allowed to stay with August for two hours due to right coronavirus restrictions.
“I remember thinking, ‘How can I just sit in a room while my son is poorly?’,” she expressed. “I started pumping breast milk to send down to him, it was the only thing that was keeping me going.
“It wasn’t until late that evening when doctors came to tell me that August was getting worse and that they still didn’t know why he was so poorly.”
Doctors said they feared little August suffered from Ornithine Transcarbamylase (OTC) deficiency, an inherited disorder that causes ammonia to accumulate in the blood.
“Giving the doctors permission to turn off August’s life support was the hardest thing I have ever had to do,” Jessica expressed.
“It’s a decision that no parent should ever have to make.”
She added: “I held August as he took his last breath surrounded by love and support from family and the hospital staff.
“The only thing I could do for my son was let him die peacefully.”
According to Science Direct, the OTC gene is on chromosome X and the severe type is only encountered in males.
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