Jenay Berg and Aaron Hilton went through five years of IVF treatments, undergoing multiple treatment rounds and procedures.
Finally, the New Zealand couple discovered on Christmas Day in 2022 their miracle baby was finally coming.
Kyson was born on September 6 — his scheduled delivery date — after a healthy pregnancy and labour.
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But within an hour of his birth, his parents were saying their goodbyes.
When Kyson was handed to his mother, she said he didn’t move or cry.
“I don’t think anyone in that room thought there was anything wrong with him until he didn’t cry,” Berg told the NZ Herald this week.
Hospital staff rubbed Kyson’s chest and legs to rouse him, but he gave no response.
“I saw him open his eyes and move his mouth a little bit, and then they cut the cord and took (him) straight over to the table,” Hilton told the outlet.
“Everyone was working on him for 45 minutes,” Berg added.
“No one would say anything to us — there was one lady that kind of tried to reassure me, but no one else would really look me in the eye or say anything because I just think everyone in the room was just as shocked.
Berg was undergoing a post-delivery procedure at the same time.
“It was the longest 45 minutes of our lives,” she told the NZ Herald.
“Then they came over and told us he didn’t make it.”
The young couple are now awaiting the results of a postmortem examination, hoping for answers about why their son died.
Kyson was healthy throughout the pregnancy, Berg said, and she had a “straightforward” — if slightly lengthy — labour.
Her waters broke about 7.30am on September 5, and by 5.30pm she was given an epidural and soon after started pushing.
At midnight, she was still pushing — so staff administered medicine to increase contractions.
The couple were told staff were switching to an assisted birth, and would first try forceps before moving on to a C-section if that did not work.
Kyson was born at 2.06am. By 3am, he was gone.
Berg and Hilton were able to say their goodbyes, and have their family come do the same, before sending Kyson off for a postmortem examination at 4pm.
The couple chose to have the examination done, hoping to get some answers.
“We still haven’t heard anything back, it’s still unexplained, we’re still waiting on more tests,” Hilton said.
“He was so healthy — and I was told throughout my whole pregnancy that he was so healthy, and he was so active,” Berg said.
“And if you’ve got an active baby, he’s a healthy baby.
“I also think it’s just really, really cruel — to get through this far, having IVF, and everything else and have it work, then to literally at the last second, when you’re really, really close, that final stretch, to have it all taken away … that is very, very cruel.
“And especially when we don’t have a reason.”
A givealittle campaign has been created by family friends of the couple to raise funds for Kyson’s funeral and any ongoing expenses they face while grieving their loss.
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