Eiden, Corazon’s beautiful baby boy. Photo \/ Tony Nyberg<\/p>\n
Corazon\u2019s journey began five years ago, when she was nearing her mid-30s and starting to wonder about her biological clock. While she\u2019d been in relationships in the past and spent time on the dating scene, Mr Right never came along.<\/p>\n
But instead of leaving her future to fate, Corazon visited a fertility specialist to discuss her options. She decided to freeze her eggs and her name was added to the public waiting list for donor sperm. If she didn\u2019t find a partner in the meantime, she decided she would go it alone.<\/p>\n
While raising a baby without a partner might sound daunting, Corazon felt confident in her decision, buoyed by the unwavering support of her mum Leony \u2013 who would eventually move from Christchurch to Auckland to be closer to her daughter \u2013 and her experience as a former neonatal intensive care nurse.<\/p>\n
When it came time to select her donor, Corazon, who is a proud Filipino-Kiwi, was thrilled to discover there was a donor with Filipino heritage.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat made sense because I figured if my baby wasn\u2019t going to grow up with a dad, I wanted them to feel connected to the family they do have and to be able to see themselves in us.\u201d<\/p>\n
When Corazon\u2019s first embryo transfer was unsuccessful, her disappointment proved just how badly she wanted to become a mum. <\/p>\n
Corazon felt confident in her decision to be a solo mum. Photo \/ Tony Nyberg<\/p>\n
\u201cI realised that the idea of it not working was more scary than the idea of it working.\u201d<\/p>\n
Thankfully, a second embryo transfer was successful. She can still remember the moment the fertility clinic phoned to give her the news she\u2019d been hoping for \u2013 she was finally pregnant.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was the worst possible moment,\u201d laughs Corazon. \u201cI was in court covering the report into the sinking of the navy vessel Manawanui. It was a really hefty story and I hardly had time to process the fact I was pregnant. I just said, \u2018Okay, thanks,\u2019 and went back to writing my script for the six o\u2019clock news!\u201d<\/p>\n
But over the following days, weeks and months, excitement grew for the mum-to-be. Feeling great, she continued going to the gym and attending her beloved ballet classes, where everyone around her embraced her decision to become a mum on her own. <\/p>\n
Being open about Eiden\u2019s conception has always felt like the right approach.<\/p>\n
\u201cMaybe telling our story helps further normalise the conversation,\u201d she muses.<\/p>\n
Corazon wasn\u2019t expecting to meet her baby until the end of the year, so when her waters broke at just over 31 weeks, she was understandably apprehensive. But as she made her way to hospital, she tried not to panic.<\/p>\n
Corazon welcomed baby Eiden into the world on November 13. Photo \/ Tony Nyberg<\/p>\n
She recalls, \u201cMy NICU brain kicked in and I thought, \u2018This could be a lot worse.\u2019 So even though it wasn\u2019t ideal, I did my best to stay calm.\u201d<\/p>\n
Doctors administered steroids to help her baby\u2019s lungs mature, while Corazon was closely monitored for signs of infection. After 10 days in hospital, she was allowed to return home.<\/p>\n
She put the finishing touches on the nursery and prepared for the baby\u2019s arrival because doctors had warned her it was just a matter of time. And they were right \u2013 Corazon\u2019s labour began in the middle of the night a few weeks later, at almost 36 weeks.<\/p>\n
With her work colleagues all offering to help if she needed it, Corazon phoned a co-worker who lived around the corner to drive her and her mum to hospital. By the time they got there, the contractions were coming thick and fast, and the pain was intensifying.<\/p>\n
While some women have elaborate birth plans, Corazon\u2019s hopes for labour were simple: \u201cI just wanted my baby out and in one piece. That was it.\u201d<\/p>\n
At 1.13pm on November 13, Corazon welcomed baby Eiden into the world with her mum \u2013 and, unexpectedly, her colleague \u2013 by her side. Corazon later discovered there was a reason her co-worker had remained firmly in place throughout the birth.<\/p>\n
Corazon with mum Leony and baby Eiden. Photo \/ Little Wild Ones<\/p>\n
\u201cMum admitted she\u2019d asked her to stay because she didn\u2019t feel confident being the only support person \u2013 and I\u2019m so glad she did. It was lovely having that extra support.\u201d<\/p>\n
As soon as Corazon laid eyes on her baby boy, she was completely smitten. <\/p>\n
She shares, \u201cIt was kind of surreal \u2013 this little baby\u2019s just come out of me and I\u2019m looking at him, like, \u2018Are you actually mine?\u2019 I remember seeing his face and thinking, \u2018That\u2019s the most beautiful face I\u2019ve ever seen.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n
Despite some initial feeding difficulties and jaundice that kept the pair in hospital for more than a week, Corazon treasures those early days with her tiny boy. In the evenings, once her visitors had gone home and it was just the two of them, she would sit and stare at him, trying to take in every second.<\/p>\n
And now, eight months on, Corazon\u2019s simply loving life as a mum. With grandma Leony at home too and a village of fellow mums around her, she\u2019s found solo parenting easier than she\u2019d anticipated \u2013 and she\u2019s making the most of her maternity leave before she returns to TVNZ next year.<\/p>\n
Even on those sleepless nights, Corazon reminds herself just how fleeting these days are. <\/p>\n
She smiles, \u201cHe\u2019s never going to be this small again, so I\u2019ve just got to soak in every single moment.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Eiden, Corazon’s beautiful baby boy. Photo \/ Tony Nyberg Corazon\u2019s journey began five years ago, when she was…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":562463,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[58799,36671,6794,6726,19102,276602,5972,9828,6097,252843,156,2109,305,64800,88187,6093,13457,2374,5978,17935,2721,111,139,69,90,6029,34540,4056,79501,6448,9979,51177,20863,26639,59353,61,4276,102,1339,1530],"class_list":["post-562462","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-entertainment","tag-1news","tag-always","tag-baby","tag-become","tag-chose","tag-corazon","tag-day","tag-different","tag-down","tag-dreamed","tag-entertainment","tag-family","tag-have","tag-hoped","tag-imagined","tag-little","tag-look","tag-meeting","tag-might","tag-miller","tag-mum","tag-new-zealand","tag-newzealand","tag-nz","tag-on","tag-once","tag-passed","tag-person","tag-realised","tag-reporter","tag-right","tag-settle","tag-she","tag-shed","tag-solo","tag-to","tag-why","tag-with","tag-without","tag-years"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/562462","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=562462"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/562462\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/562463"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=562462"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=562462"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=562462"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}