My 'heavy period' turned out be a hidden condition - it almost killed me and the baby I didn't know I was having

My friends and family have always said: “Lucy, you were born to be a mum.”

I wholeheartedly believe that to be true. But it’s astonishing to me, to think that the very thing I was born to do almost killed me.

The most magical moment of my life was when I became a mum, in November 2019. As I held my beautiful son in my arms, breathing in his gorgeous newborn scent, his tiny fingers wrapped tightly around mine, I felt a love like never before.

In that moment, in my blissful baby bubble, I knew there was only one thing that could ever match that moment of magic: Giving Theo a brother or sister.

But that wasn’t something I expected to happen for a long, long time. Towards the end of last year, I started to feel incredibly unwell. My first symptoms were intense stomach pains, quickly followed by excessive bleeding.

What I thought was a menstrual period seemed to roll into the next without a break. A couple of days would pass before my bleeding started again, just as persistently as before.

But it was only when I lost my appetite that I really began to worry. Upon researching my symptoms online, I quickly convinced myself I had a serious illness.

So, I booked a smear test, during which my practice nurse asked me if I could be pregnant. Given the fact that I was excessively bleeding and taking a daily contraceptive pill, I said no. She agreed it was unlikely.

It was an enormous relief when my smear results came back normal. Still, I was advised to do a pregnancy test, just to rule it out.

I was astonished when a positive result flashed at me, almost immediately. Still unconvinced, and without telling a soul, I booked a private scan.

“I don’t think you’ll see anything, I don’t actually think I’m pregnant,” I told the