Today Zoe speaks to Vicky Gooden, who talks about her fertility journey and the difficult diagnosis of a congenital heart condition in her little girl. Drawing on her own families experience and wanting to advocate for those who are different, Vicky has written a beautiful children’s book called The Wonder Line.

KEY TAKEAWAYS

• Vicky met her husband John through a mutual friend. The start of the relationship was online but when they finally met they really hit it off and were engaged just over two years later.
• After a few years of marriage, they started trying for a baby but after some time nothing was happening, they had some tests but nothing was found at first. After two years of trying they were referred to a gynaecologist and after explorative surgery it was discovered Vicky had endometriosis, which was removed.
• They expected to then fall pregnant but this was not the case, so they then went down the IVF route. Egg collection went well but when it came to transplanting the embryo they were unable to do so. After multiple attempts Vicky had to be sedated for a transfer to happen.
• She became pregnant but her HCG levels were low so she was told that they couldn’t confirm a pregnancy just yet. She sadly then suffered a miscarriage, she was taken to a&e due to the amount of bleeding and pain she was in. It was subsequently detected that she had a cervical ectopic pregnancy which is extremely rare.
• Writing has always helped Vicky with her mental health, so she decided to start writing and blogging about her experience.
• Vicky had her final two embryos implanted and this resulted in a pregnancy, she had her daughter 9 months later.
• Vicky and John’s daughter was a bit unwell so they took her to the GP, it was discovered she had a heart murmur. After seeing specialists, the next step was for their daughter to have heart surgery. It was a very difficult time for them all but the surgery was thankfully a success. It was after this that Vicky was inspired to write her book, The Wonder Line.

BEST MOMENTS

“Your relationship just becomes this process, like a scientific experiment really!”

“It gave me something to pin everything on”

“I felt like my body was being ripped in two”

“It was an absolute rollercoaster”

VALUABLE RESOURCES

www.petalscharity.org

www.tommys.org

www.arc-uk.org

www.sands.org.uk

@tinytickers

@bunbunbooksuk

www.mywonderline.com

ABOUT THE GUEST

Vicky Gooden

@vickygooden

@tinytickers

@bunbunbooksuk

www.mywonderline.com

ABOUT THE HOST

Zoe Cresswell

Devoted mother of two (and a big hairy dog), UK trained midwife, doula and personal trainer, specialising in pre and postnatal fitness.

Zoe was born in the UK and before moving to Dubai in 2013 and worked as a midwife in central London, both in a birth centre and a very busy NHS hospital.

Although late to the scene, Zoe is an aspiring athlete having won numerous triathlons and representing Great Britain where she placed within the top 10 on the world stage.

With her husband James, the couple will soon be launching their cloth nappy company, Bop & Bee, where they hope to inspire families to swap a few disposable nappies a day for the more planet friendly option of cloth.

Zoe’s goal is to share her knowledge and experience, tell real life stories, manage expectations and open up those often difficult conversations.

Zoe’s own motherhood journey has been full of twists and turns as she put everything on hold and went through numerous miscarriages and rounds of IVF.

CONTACT DETAILS

Instagram : @zoecresswell_me

Facebook: Zoe Cresswell

LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/zoe-cresswell