Archer's Story
In loving memory of
Archer James Martin Kevin Badger
30.07.2018 - 04.08.2018
Our beautiful baby boy Archer was born on the 30/07/18. He weighed a chunky 8lbs 2oz, had bright blue eyes and white blonde hair, we all have dark hair so this was quite a shock.
It was a pretty straight forward pregnancy with no issues, so as I reached my due date we were all set to give birth and bring him home to meet his big sister Aurora, who was two and a half at the time.
At 40 + 1 my feet swelled up so I went into triage, as I had pre-eclampsia with my daughter so I knew the signs. He was still wriggling away inside me, I was mostly worried I wouldn't have the calm, relaxed birth in the birth centre we had prepared for. They checked us both over and I did have pre-eclampsia so they monitored us both, everything was very calm, they said there was nothing wrong with me or him.
A serious case of medical negligence unfolded over the next few hours and my baby hadn't been monitored correctly, he was infact struggling inside. They had to induce me and this really stressed him out even more so eventually they decided a C-section would be best, they delivered him and he wasn't breathing. They rushed him down to NICU and I naively thought he would spend a bit of time there and come home.
A while later we were told he had suffered brain damage but we couldn't be sure of how severe it was. We were transferred to a different hospital who did so much for him, they were incredible. They put him on a cooling matt, which can help with HIE and help prevent permanent brain damage. He was cooled for 72 hours, during which we couldn't touch him much, it felt like the longest days of our life. He was then warmed back up slowly and constant checks on his brain were done, he was having lots of silent seizures but we were still unsure of what would happen. Specialist's came & did a brain scan which is where we were told the damage was severe and he would likely not be able to walk, see, swallow etc.
We both decided that our little hero shouldn't live like that so we decided to stop his treatments and switch off his life support. We were then transferred to the amazing Acorns childrens hospice. We made the best memories, took walks in the garden, made hand and footprints and just spent time as a 'normal' family.
Archer passed away when he was five days old, we held hIm tightly, telling him how special and perfect he is, how much his whole family loves him and he took his last breath as his dad held him. We spent some more time together before he carried on his journey.
Archer passed away when he was five days old, we held hIm tightly, telling him how special and perfect he is, how much his whole family loves him and he took his last breath as his dad held him. We spent some more time together before he carried on his journey.
Archer is a huge part of our lives, we talk about him all the time and we miss him so much, hes also now a big brother to his baby sister Alula!
We love you Archer xxx
