I had no idea I was pregnant until I went to the loo & saw two feet – watching my favourite TV show saved my baby’s life
HEADING out for her usual morning run, Charlotte Wheeler was suddenly crippled with agonising tummy pains.
She was expecting her period, but her partner Dominic was so worried he called their local doctor, who came round to examine her.
Diagnosing her pains as symptoms of irritable bowel syndrome (IBS), the GP prescribed Charlotte, 31, some indigestion tablets and headed off.
But less than an hour later, while Dominic was out running, Charlotte got the shock of her life when she went to the toilet – and felt a sudden gush of water.
“Then an umbilical cord popped out, followed by two little feet!” Charlotte, a lawyer from London, recalls.
“I just couldn’t believe it… I seriously thought I was hallucinating.”
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Unbeknown to Charlotte, who lived in Amsterdam at the time, she had been pregnant for months – and her baby was on the brink of death.
She says: “Having watched One Born Every Minute, I knew the cord coming out meant the baby was being starved of oxygen, and a breach delivery is harder.
“I just knew I had to push with everything I had to get the baby out if it was going to survive.”
Charlotte recalls being “strangely calm” once she realised she was in labour.
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Dominic, who had raced back home to be with her, called an ambulance, expecting the labour would last several hours.
But after just three pushes, their surprise baby – who they named Evelyn – “popped out” .
Having been deprived of oxygen for a considerable amount of time, Evelyn was floppy and had blueish skin.
“We started trying to resuscitate her with chest compressions, fearing the worst,” Charlotte explains.
“We kept trying, but nothing was working. Then the ambulance team arrived just as we were about to give up.
“After a full six minutes, she came to life.”
We started trying to resuscitate her with chest compressions, fearing the worst. We kept trying, but nothing was working. Then the ambulance team arrived just as we were about to give up
Charlotte Wheeler
Evelyn, born on Father’s Day in 2020, was rushed to their local hospital’s intensive care ward.
Doctors feared she’d have severe brain damage due to being starved of oxygen for so long.
The tot underwent three days of specialised cooling therapy, and an MRI scan revealed “miraculous” results.
Charlotte says: “The neurosurgeon approached our consultant doctor and said, ‘Are you sure these are the correct scans? This baby’s brain is absolutely fine?’
“We just couldn’t believe it, our beautiful girl was going to be ok!
“The doctors said the CPR we’d done before the ambulance had arrived must’ve made all the difference.”
Nearly a month later in July, Evelyn was finally able to go home with her thrilled parents.
Weight battle
Charlotte had always dreamed of being a mum, but after years of unsuccessful attempts to fall pregnant she feared it would probably never happen.
She’d put it down to her weight, having tipped the scales at over 27 stone in her twenties and suffered irregular periods.
In 2017 she joined Slimming World, where she lost an incredible 15 stone in just eight months.
Charlotte began blogging about her transformation – which saw her go from size 30 to a size 12.
Soon after she met Dominic, a telecommunications director, on a dating site.
Reflecting on the birth of their miracle baby, Charlotte says she felt “an insane mix of emotions”.
I seriously had no obvious baby bump, and my periods had been regular, so Evelyn really was the most magical surprise imaginable
Charlotte Wheeler
“We’d tried for years for a baby with seemingly no success, then literally out of the blue this beautiful little girl with dark curly hair arrives from nowhere,” she says.
“I seriously had no obvious baby bump, and my periods had been regular, so Evelyn really was the most magical surprise imaginable.
“We’d almost lost her straight away, but then she rallied and was alive again. It was like we’d grieved never having the family, then grieved losing our daughter, all in such a short time.”
While Evelyn was in hospital, Charlotte and Dominic were just 300 metres away from the ward thanks to free accommodation and support from the Ronald McDonald House Charities.
Charlotte says the support was invaluable and she has since raised more than £8,000 for the charity.
“I seriously don’t know how we could have coped without that lifeline – the endless care and support we were shown by the volunteers there,” she adds.
Covid struggles
Sadly it was nearly a year before little Evelyn could meet her doting grandparents, due to the Netherlands and Britain enforcing strict lockdowns during the coronavirus pandemic.
In March 2021, the family was able to fly home after receiving vaccines not then available in mainland Europe.
Charlotte admits she felt “blessed” to have little Evelyn, but struggled to keep up with her ever-growing daughter after she began putting weight back on.
It pushed her to return to the healthy eating and exercise regime she’d followed years previously – and now a svelte size 12, she says she’s never been fitter or healthier.
If I look at the old photos of me weighing 27 stone, then now with Evelyn next to me, I can’t believe my life
Charlotte Wheeler
“I know I’m an emotional eater and need to keep on top of that with psychological support,” Charlotte admits.
“I know what my issues are and I’m dealing with them. Whatever I’m doing right now, I know it’s got to be good.
“If I look at the old photos of me weighing 27 stone, then now with Evelyn next to me, I can’t believe my life.”
Charlotte is determined to keep her weight in check now, with Evelyn her motivation.
She says: “I weigh less now than I ever have, and with Evelyn by my side wherever I go, I just feel so alive!
“She’s just so happy and loves life – she completes me in every way.
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“Evelyn wasn’t supposed to be alive, so every day with her is a miracle.”
To find out more about Ronald McDonald Charities and the support they provide for families like Charlotte’s, visit: rmhc.org.uk
