Lacie’s story told by her mother Kayleigh 

At my twenty-week pregnancy scan I was told that Lacie’s heart hadn’t formed properly, this was a terrible shock but it gave me time to prepare for her arrival with the knowledge that she would probably need surgery in order to survive. 

Lacie was born early after exactly 32 weeks of gestation. Tests showed that she had Coarctation of the Aorta and a large Ventricular Septal Defect (VSD). 

Lacie had the Coarctation of the Aorta treated when she was two weeks old, this procedure stretches the Aorta (main artery) to improve blood flow. 

Two weeks later she had a PA band fitted. The band makes the pulmonary artery narrower reducing blood flow to the lungs.

On 2 January 2022 Lacie was transferred from Glasgow PICU to Crosshouse NICU and was finally allowed home on 13 Jan 2022, she was seven weeks and six days old. 

On March 2023 Lacie returned to theatre for the Glenn and Damus-Kaye-Stansel procedures. Having struggled to gain weight since birth, Lacie was not mobile at the time of this operation although she was 14 months old. However, soon after the operation she started shuffling along the floor at great speed and was walking with a walker not long after that. 

Lacie is now nearly two and walking unaided. She loves the Molly’s Dolly provided by CHF, when she gets older I will be able to explain about her scars and how the doll has some to match.