My partner and myself attended our 20 week scan and it was then when we knew something was wrong. The sonographer told us that the babies heart was not in the right position and she was going to refer us to a specalist. I remember feeling confused and we had to wait all weekend to see the specalist. We were referred to Liverpool Womens hospital and after the ultrasound we were told the devestating news that our baby girl had a congenital diaphragmatic hernia. From then we were scanned more regularly and had regular check ups. The only organ thay had gone up through the chest was her bowel.
On march 18th i was induced at Liverpool Womens hospital and on 19th March at 9.49am our precious daughter was born via emergency c section. She was whisked off to the neonatal intensive care unit and we were able to see her a few hours later. It broke my heart to see her lying there with tubes all over her. The next day she was transferred over to Alder Hey where she deteriorated rapidly. We were asked if we wanted to get her baptised. On day 4 Minni had her hernia repair… she was that poorly the surgeon peformed the operation on PICU. After what seemed like a lifetime waiting to hear the news the surgeon told us that it had been a success but she still wasnt out of the woods. As each day passed, Minni became stronger and slowly started to come off different medication and after 19 days she was extubated and i finally got to hold my baby. Minni was in hospital for a month all together. She is now 7 months old and is doing amazing. She picks up coughs and colds easily and has difficulty with feeding at times. Apart from that you would never know how poorly she was.
My heart goes out to anyone who has been affected by this cruel condition. For anyone who is reading this, whether you are pregnant and your baby has this condition… stay positive and strong. CDH babies are true fighters
- 0800 731 6991
- committee@cdhuk.org.uk
