When Hannah Marsden and her partner Michael Lewis fell pregnant, it came as a total shock. They were about to begin IVF after being told by doctors it would be "impossible" to conceive naturally.
They were so excited to meet their miracle baby, and at first the pregnancy went smoothly. After 15 weeks, they discovered they were having a girl - something they'd both secretly hoped for.
But during a 20-week appointment, the sonographer was unable to complete the scan. Hannah, 26, and Michael, 38, knew something was wrong. After being referred to a specialist hospital, they were told their unborn daughter had a life-threatening condition called hypoplastic left heart syndrome.
Doctors told the devastated couple they had three options - to terminate the pregnancy, to let nature take its course, or use all medical intervention possible to try and prolong their baby's life. After facing such difficulty to get pregnant, they knew they had to try everything possible to make sure she survived.
Hannah, originally from Leigh, gave birth to their daughter Mila-Boo in June last year. Before she could even hold her, straight away, she was escorted off to Alder Hey Hospital for treatment, and underwent her first open heart surgery.
She will need at least two more heart surgeries in order to prolong her life to adulthood. But to make their heartbreaking situation even worse, the couple were recently served with a Section 21 eviction notice on their flat, after falling behind with rent payments.
Both Hannah and Michael, who have worked all their life, have had to take extra time off work to support Mila-Boo, and had to make the difficult choice to pay for food and energy, or rent.
"My maternity leave has finished and my partner has been off this whole time," she said, speaking to the M.E.N. "He was on statutory sick pay but that's up now because he's had 28 weeks.
"We did get some help from Universal Credit but that didn't cover everything and we have just been constantly behind. It's either been food or rent but my daughter needs feeding and nappies. She needs the heating as well because she can't get cold as her body won't be able to function."
Hannah and Michael discovered they were pregnant with Mila-Boo in September 2021, just months before they were due to begin their first round of IVF treatment.
"We were trying and trying but getting nowhere," Hannah recalled. "We went to a fertility clinic and they said it was going to be impossible to get pregnant without IVF.
"We went through the process of booking IVF and were due to have treatment in January 2022. But I found out that I was pregnant in September 2021. I was over the moon about it. I couldn't believe it had happened. I took a pregnancy test every day to be sure."
The couple went for a 12-week scan and midwives told them everything was going well. They paid for a private gender scan at 15 weeks, when they discovered they were having a girl. But when they arrived at hospital for the 20-week anatomy scan, things took a devastating turn.
"The scan wasn't completed because they instantly realised something was wrong with her heart. The lady rushed out of the room and said 'I'm sorry, I need to get some more information.'
"We were panicking because that's the last thing you expect to hear. We were referred to Alder Hey and she was given the diagnosis of hypoplastic left heart syndrome."
The congenital heart defect means that Mila's heart has grown to half the normal size, two of her main arteries are the wrong way round, and she doesn't have any chambers in her heart.
"They offered us a termination or they said I could give birth and let nature take its course but instantly we knew we wanted to give her a chance, we know she is our miracle baby," Hannah said. "I said just said use everything you've got to save her."
Since giving birth, Mila-Boo has had to undergo open heart surgery and spent the first month of her life at Alder Hey Children's Hospital in Liverpool.
"Because of the time spent apart I started to panic because we hadn't bonded," Hannah said. "I was diagnosed with post-natal depression because I was terrified of her seeing her.
"But then I finally did meet her and she was amazing. She looks so much like me. She did so well in hospital. I couldn't praise the staff enough, they were amazing and felt like family."
Mila-Boo was due to go for her second open heart surgery in December 2022, but after suffering a blood clot, doctors said there was too much pressure on her heart go ahead. The surgery has had to be redesigned and is booked in for later this month.
If she isn't able to have the surgery this time round it's likely doctors will have to stop treatment, meaning Mila's life-expectancy is likely to drop from around 40 years to twenty.
To add to their stress, they were served a Section 21 eviction notice on their rental home in Warrington by their landlord last month, meaning they face becoming homeless. They have set up a gofundme page in the hope to raise enough money to help with their housing situation.
"We'd never claimed benefits in our life and here we were ringing up the council's homelessness department," Hannah said. "Luckily they have found us a house but we are meant to move out of here on March 1 and the new house isn't ready until the end of March.
"We hope if we raise the money we can pay for an extra months rent so we can stay in this house. Obviously it doesn't help the situation we are in right now.
"At the moment we are round the corner from family but we'll be moving back to Leigh. It's not great but at least we'll have a roof over our head. It's going to be hard having a baby in hospital and moving as well especially with the financial issues."
You can donate to the couple's fundraising page here.
Homeless charity Shelter has advice on what to do if you are facing a section 21 notice. For more information, click here.
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