One final push and Loren Bowcock heard the cries of her newborn baby girl fill the room. Doctors held the tot by the exhausted mum’s face for a moment before quickly taking her away. One glance was all Loren got.
She wouldn’t see her daughter – who she named Matilda – until the following day. Matilda was in a completely different hospital, her tiny body lost in a sea of wires. Just days later, medics were preparing her for open heart surgery.
“I wouldn’t wish this on my worst enemy,” Loren, from the Heaton area of Bolton, told the Manchester Evening News. “I’ve not even bonded with my baby.
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“The day she was in surgery, it felt like a week. It’s been hell. Even though I knew what was going on, nothing can prepare you to see your baby like that.”
Everything appeared fine with Loren’s pregnancy until she went for her 20-week scan. A sonographer was scanning Matilda’s heart when she noticed some of her arteries were crossed over.
Loren pushed to see a consultant and unborn Matilda was diagnosed with transposition of the great arteries, or TGA. TGA is a serious, rare heart problem where the two main arteries leaving the heart are reversed. The condition is present at birth and is a congenital heart defect.
“I was just devastated,” Loren continued. “I don’t think I even processed it. When they’re telling you these things, it sounds bad but you don’t even listen because you just can’t get it into your head.
“You never think it’s going to happen to someone like you. It’s the most traumatic thing I’ve ever been through.”
Matilda was born on November 18 at Liverpool Women’s Hospital. Within just 30 minutes, the tiny tot was transferred to Alder Hey Children's Hospital where she she had her very first surgery to help her oxygen flow. The infant was just hours old.
Two weeks later, Matilda had open heart surgery – an operation that lasted nine-and-a-half hours. When care assistant Loren was allowed to see her later that evening, Matilda’s chest was still wide open.
“They told me it would be open but I didn’t think it would be that open,” she added. “She had a gauge over it but it was clear. I could see straight into her.
“Two days after the operation, they tried to close her chest but they were unsuccessful because of the swelling and her blood pressure was dropping. They managed to do it the following Tuesday – she was open for five days.”
Though Matilda is finally off her ventilator, she remains on the high dependency unit. Loren says the tot is still very poorly and struggling with several health issues.
Due to the blood clots on her neck, medics have placed her on blood thinners. She is also on a special feed as her body is struggling to digest fat. Doctors think she will remain in hospital for her first Christmas.
“We will not be home for Christmas,” Loren added. “The doctors have told me we will be here for weeks, maybe months. But they are amazing, Alder Hey is a brilliant hospital.
“It’s been a very hard journey. I’ve taken a picture of her every day; I want her to be proud of her scar from the surgery and what she’s been through.
“She’s amazing. She’s not out of the woods yet, but we’re definitely seeing progression. It’s like a rollercoaster that I don’t want to be on. As hard as it’s been, I’m so fortunate they saw it on the scan because it could have ended a lot differently.
A Gofundme appeal has been set up to help Loren and her family through this difficult time. To donate, follow the link by clicking here.
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