told by mum

At 17 I found out I was pregnant, on the 3rd March 2016 myself and my mum went to my 20 week scan, I was so excited for my mum to see her first grandchild.

The sonographer was doing all the usual checks then kept going back to his heart. That’s when she said she needed another opinion as his heart looked different. Two more sonographers came in and confirmed TGA (transposition of the great arteries).

I didn’t take any of that in I just wanted to see if he was still a boy. My mum was my rock she took all the information in, she asked all the questions.

I was booked in to be induced 17th July (due date was the 20th) but he decided he didn’t want to wait for the induction date and came on the 7th July, luckily our local hospital set everything in plan and he got transferred straight to Alderhey. He had cath procedure done less than 24hours old.

I was sat by Daniel’s bed with my mum and uncle when the surgeon team came over to talk to me about what’s going to happen and when. I had less than 24hours until his big surgery. 10hours he was down, when he came back up they informed me that he wasn’t sedated properly. The drs was so sorry kept saying how sorry they was but I didnt care, my baby was alive, he got given 30% of survival and high chance he could have had no brain function. He beat the odds, after surgery he changed so much, from a tiny baby to all swollen red and purple. Those images will never leave our mind.

Sat by his side for a month, didn’t eat properly hardly slept…but it was all worth it!
A month in hospital, learning how to feed tube, checking his obs, doing blood gases learning lots of new skills to help my boy.
When we finally got home I was scared to sleep, some times I still hear the hospital machines alarms.

At 17 becoming a mum is scary it’s self but having to go through all that as well, he’s made me a better stronger mother!

He has regular visits to Alderhey to check his heart. We are now on a 3 year gap to see how that goes on. He is going to be 8 this year, he’s got younger siblings and he tells them all about his scar. We are very proud of everything he has accomplished, proud of the little boy he’s turned into.

We are very grateful to Alderhey cardiac team for saving our child!

If you have been affected by any of the issues raised in this content you can contact info@chfed.org.uk or 0300 561 0065.