Rian Anthony

Rian was due on the 18th of November and right on cue, he entered the world after a rapid delivery at 9:19 am weighing a healthy 8lbs 3oz. Rian scored 9 on his APGARs and all seemed perfect.

Our midwife must of noticed something we didn't—she asked for him to get checked in special care. That was the start of our nightmare, and  everything snowballed from there. A consultant and three nurses entered our room and said they thought he had a heart defect, possibly transposition of the great arteries but he would have to go ASAP to a specialist hospital dealing with CHD in Dublin. He left at 1 o'clock in an ambulance and was blue-lighted to Our Lady's Hospital For Sick Children in Crumlin, Dublin, Ireland.

Rian had a balloon septostomy that day to give him the oxygen he so needed. We then had the chance the following day to hold our little man. He looked so perfect and it was hard believe there was anything wrong. His saturation machine read round 70/80 so we knew it was true. He has three healthy brothers also. So for that week we had a chance to feed him which he managed no problem he never went blue and we just tried to enjoy our time with him.

On November 25, 2009 Rian had his arterial switch operation which was a success. He spent a week in ICU and then a further two weeks back on the normal heart ward. We had a few hiccups along the way (lungs collapsed and fluid collecting around his heart) but he fought on and gained strength and so on a cold 18th of December, we finally got him home to his brothers. Rian continues to thrive and is a beautiful well-loved baby.