My Gastroschisis Warrior

In the hush before the dawn,

A flicker on the screen,

A doctor’s voice, softly spoken,

Cuts through the in-between.

A tiny life still forming,

Hands not yet unfurled,

Yet brave enough to face the weight of this uncertain world.

 

I heard the word, too sharp, too strange,

A twist of fate, a sudden change.

A heart once light now heavy grew,

The world tilted, but so did you.

 

I stood there still, yet fierce inside,

With worry, hope, and tears I cried.

I asked the questions, bore the weight,

And walked with love through fears wide gate.

 

Outside the belly, fragile loops, the gut exposed to air,

A twist of fate, a silent shift, a burden hard to bear.

But science stood like sentry gates,

And teams in white would try,

To tuck the future gently in, beneath a stitched-up sky.

 

Mum and dad, not yet prepared.

For the sterile rooms and sleepless nights,

Through beeping lullabies,

They learned the shape of courage

Through their baby’s open cries.

 

A baby not yet in their arms,

Already wrapped in soft alarms.

A belly bare, a fragile start

But safe within their lion heart.

 

Mum expressed her milk,

Whilst dad learned the terms, the nurses’ jobs, the charts.

Whilst you stitched up your strength and done your part,

They had sung through the glass, through the tubes and wires,

All whilst they knew you had fighting desires.

 

They learnt that love is to stand and stay,

When every light feels far away.

To hold your child through pain and peace,

A mother’s love won’t ever cease.

 

And though the scar may whisper truths of battles long ago,

It’s also proof of healing, and the strength a soul can show.

A ribbon wound resilience, a fierce and tender flame,

This little one, with guts of steel, already earned a name.

 

So, here’s to life that starts with fight,

To hope that doesn’t cease.

To tiny fists and stitched up dreams,

The warriors of gastroschisis.