Alana Watling, 20, said it was “really scary” to see her son, Mason, heavily sedated and with his tiny torso left open.
She and her fiancé Andrew Smith, 19, of Norwich, Norfolk, had been told during their pregnancy their unborn child had a number of heart defects.
He would need to be operated on as quickly as possible after birth.
But he was born three weeks premature due to pregnancy complications, and needed to put on weight before the huge op.
Alana recalled how sick he was while at home, and at his worse, Mason turned “blue and floppy” because he struggled to breathe.
His surgery was brought forward and, at two-months-old, cow tissue was used to mend his heart in a six-hour procedure – leaving him with just a thin gauze over the wound.
His skin was swollen and, as standard procedure, docs had to wait for it to calm down before they could stitch the tot back together.
Alana said: “Mason was in cardiac intensive care following the surgery and he came back from theatre with his chest open. We could see his heart beating – it was really scary.
“Him being so tiny and having this massive operation to fix his heart – we were terrified for him and terrified for his recovery.
“Leaving him at the hospital just to go and sleep for a few hours, even though we knew he was in capable hands, was heart-breaking.”
Fortunately, Mason pulled through and is now a thriving and cheeky five-month-old baby who is unlikely to need another operation.
Alana said: “They were worried that he wasn’t going to survive due to his congenital heart defects.
“They said he is one of the most complex cases they’ve seen in a long time – and they deal with this on a daily basis.
“To see him smiling and sitting on our laps getting cuddled, and be happy and comfortable, is amazing.”
Alana, a full-time mum, and Andrew, a security guard, found out they were pregnant in late April 2020 – a shock considering they had only met four months earlier.
But the couple have a strong relationship and Alana quickly came round to the idea.
At the 20-week scan, at Norwich and Norfolk University Hospital (NNUH) on 14 September 2020, the young couple found out their baby had several congenital defects.
Alana said: “When the nurse said she needed to get someone, my heart absolutely sank. We were taken into a room called the Quiet Space and I knew something was wrong.”
Mason’s issues included holes between the right and left chambers of the organ, a hole in the wall separating the two lower chambers and a leaky valve, all of which would need surgery to fix soon after his birth.
Alana said: “It was heart-breaking for me and Andrew to be told our first baby has something wrong and needs multiple major surgeries.”
What made matters worse was Alana’s pregnancy was very difficult because she had polyhydramnios – when there is increased amniotic fluid around the baby.
“I was in a lot of pain, with three litres of extra fluid. I was huge and really uncomfortable”, Alana said.
Doctors planned to induce Alana to give birth on January 13 – but after not feeling any movement all day on January 3, the worried mum went straight back into the NNUH.
What problems did Mason have?
Atrioventricular septal defect: holes between the right and left chambers of the heart. It can lead to blood flow in wrong places, such as to the lungs – causing the heart and lungs to have to work harder.
A ventricular septal defect: a hole in the wall that separates the two lower chambers (ventricles) of the heart. This also causes the heart and lungs to have to work harder.
Leaky valve: This is when the the flaps of a valve are leaky, and therefore blood comes back into the valve after its been pumped out.
Duodenal atresia: when the first part of the small intestine just beyond the stomach is closed off rather than being a tube.
Alana was given an emergency C-section because Mason was in distress.
He was born on January 4, three and a half weeks early, weighing a tiny 4lbs 6oz.
“They couldn’t get him to breathe for his first two minutes of life,” Alana said. “When they did get him to breathe, they drained 60ml of fluid from his stomach.”
Mason was taken to the neonatal unit to help him breathe before being taken to GOSH in London the next day.
He had a duodenal atresia, or a “double bubble”, when the first part of the small intestine just beyond the stomach is closed off rather than being a tube.
Docs repaired his disconnected intestine and he stayed in the cardiac intensive care unit before being discharged on January 18.
But the complications did not stop there, as Mason continued vomiting and struggling to breathe.
On March 9 on the way home from a hospital appointment, Mason became unresponsive and was struggling to breathe.
Alana said: “He went blue and floppy. He was wheezing when he was breathing and flailing his arms around. He went unconscious in the back of the ambulance – it was horrible.”
After a week in hospital, doctors Mason wasn’t getting any better and his surgery was brought forward to March 25.
During the op, three defects were repaired with cow tissue – often used for cardiac surgical repairs because it is more likely to be accepted by the body.
Following the surgery, Mason spent another four days in cardiac ICU – three of them with his chest open.
According to the World Journal for Pediatric and Congenital Heart Surgery, “delayed sternal closure is commonly required following cardiac surgery”.
Alana said: “It was really scary to see my two-month-old like that – heavily sedated and swollen with his tiny little heart beating through this thin dressing.”
Alana and Andrew were grateful to stay at nearby accommodation funded by charity The Sick Children’s Trust.
Once Mason’s chest was closed, he spent time on the recovery ward before being sent home on April 3.
Alana said docs have “no major concerns” about Mason’s health, and he has grown into a “cheeky” baby full of personality.
Alana, who had thought she never wanted children, is now determined to give her little boy a “permanent playmate”.
She added: “I definitely do want to have other children. Now that I’ve got Mason, I wouldn’t change anything for the world.
“Coming home and watching Andrew being a dad, and us being a family, is the best thing in the world.”
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