My 'shining light' on Mother's Day

Last year Aiden’s dad Keith wrote a lovely blog for us on Father’s Day. Now it is mum’s turn! Fleur shares her thoughts on what Mother’s Day really means with her little ‘shining light’ …

This year I will be celebrating my second Mother’s Day, a day I feared would be filled with sadness and longing after Aiden’s traumatic birth and the uncertainty over his survival. But Aiden is here and he makes my heart fill with pride every day. Mother’s Day is now a celebration of the love I have for my amazing son and our bond.

When Aiden was born he was starved of oxygen for over 20 minutes. Aiden has always showed me how strong he is by surviving his birth, enduring prolonged CPR and being so strong through his cooling treatment and hospital stay. We know that without the cooling treatment Aiden’s outlook could be much worse and that sadness could have consumed me, but my boy is strong and wasn’t going anywhere. It’s thanks to Action Medical Research that I get to celebrate this day and have my brown-eyed boy stare up at me with his messy blonde hair and cheeky face and all engulfing smile.

Aiden has developed a very cheeky little personality, he has become a complete and utter mummy’s boy. I think back to before he was born and part of me feels that this would have happened anyway, he was always going to be my shining light. 

I’m learning to let go of the life I had envisioned for Aiden and now strive to make sure Aiden has as many opportunities that all children should have and ensure he is as happy as can be. I’m letting him lead me down his path and we’ll tackle any obstacle together, as a family. We do the vast majority of classes his friends do, it’s my job to make sure I can adapt what we’re doing and help him experience life to the full. Aiden loves music, swimming, the park, the zoo, Peppa Pig and hanging out with his friends. Aiden has become a little flirt and readily offers up a smile to the ladies and knows how to turn the charm on, this never fails to put a smile on my face.

The cards and presents are lovely, but for me the real meaning of Mother’s Day is looking into my son’s eyes knowing that he knows how loved he is. And although he cannot speak the words ‘I love you mummy’, I know with all my heart that he does. I cherish the moments we share, the way when I read to him he wants to turn the pages, the way he grabs my hand when he has his bottle, the stubborn look on his face when it’s time to eat his vegetables and the delight that crosses his face when he sees the purple packet of the chocolate buttons.  These are all the things that make Mother’s Day and every day special.

Having Aiden has changed the course of my life, this is not a road I thought I would ever be living, but who does? Aiden has enriched my life by making me more aware of how incredible life is and how, for me, it’s all the small moments that will stay in my heart forever. I have met so many amazing people through Aiden’s journey. Discovered charities which I never knew existed but do such invaluable work and are unsung heroes. We’ve embraced these charities and become ambassadors, by doing this Aiden has raised over £30,000 to help others. This led Aiden to win the Pride of Essex, Child of Courage Award in November 2015. My life is richer for having Aiden in it.

I wish all the amazing mothers out there a happy Mother’s Day.

Aiden was affected by a condition called hypoxic-ischaemic encephalopathy (HIE) due to a loss of oxygen to his brain around the time of his birth. Aiden benefited from cooling therapy; you can read his story here, and find out more about how research funded by Action helped develop this treatment for vulnerable newborn babies here.