Rocco The Rock
Open-heart surgery at just 6 days old
Ialready had two kids, and my 12-week scan for our third had gone really well. So I’d wandered along to my 20-week scan without a care in the world. Only…
‘What’s wrong?’ I asked the sonographer as her face dropped.
‘There’s a problem with your baby’s heart,’ she said.
Upset, I called my husband
Jon, 40, to give him the news.
Meanwhile, we were transferred to St George’s Hospital in Tooting, where doctors diagnosed our unborn baby with transposition of the great arteries (TGA).
The two main blood vessels from the baby’s heart were switched, preventing oxygen getting to the right places in the body at the right time. Jon and I were devastated. ‘What if we lose our baby?’ I sobbed on his shoulder.
‘That’s not going to happen,’ he tried to reassure me.
Thankfully, further tests ruled out other health issues. And there was good news… ‘There’s no secondary condition, so TGA is fixable,’ the consultant said.
Still, our baby would need open-heart surgery very soon after birth, and my pregnancy had to be closely monitored.
The plan was to induce me three weeks before my due date, on 24 February 2014, at University College Hospital in London.
Once stable, our baby would be sent to Great Ormond Street, where he’d have his surgery.
But our baby had other ideas…
I was watching telly with my sons Jack, now
10, and Frankie, now 8, on 22 February, when suddenly my waters broke.
‘Call an ambulance!’
I yelled to Jon.
We made it to UCH, and I gave birth to a 8lb 3oz son.
It was clear he was very poorly, though. His skin was blue from a lack of oxygen.
Surgeons managed to stabilise our little boy.
Kept alive by machines, it was horrible to see so many wires poking out of him, but Jon and I were determined to stay strong.
‘Jack and Frankie are waiting for you at home when you’re well,’ I whispered in his ear.
After four days in Intensive Care, our baby was strong enough to be transferred to Great Ormond Street.
The open-heart surgery lasted seven hours, but it was a resounding success.
Two days after the operation, I finally got to hold my new baby. We decided to call him Rocco, after the patron saint of health. Rocco was allowed home six days after his surgery, and he’s gone from strength to strength. Now 3, he loves playing football with his brothers. He’s still monitored yearly by Great Ormond Street, and this year we shared Rocco’s story in a BBC Lifeline appeal from children’s heart charity Tiny Tickers, presented by Gabby Logan.
We’re so proud of Rocco for fighting off everything his short life has thrown at him. He’s our little miracle.