I found out at 35 weeks pregnant that the baby I was carrying had a severe heart condition..it was discussed that I would deliver the baby via c-section at 39 weeks as the baby was going to be very ill and be admitted to nicu I was told that the Fisrt 48 hrs after birth would be critical and if the baby made it through that it would have a better chance. Frankie was born at 39 weeks on 14/7/20 weighing 7lb 31/2 oz he was taken straight to nicu and examined by a cardiologist..whilst in recovery the cardiologist came to see me to discuss what the plan would be for Frankie . Frankie was diagnosed with dysplastic tricuspid valve and severe tricuspid valve regurgitation which meant that the blood wasn't flowing forward instead it was pumping back in causing the right side of the heart to enlarge we were told that this wasnt easy to treat and the only thing keeping him alive at the moment was a drug called prostaglandin which keeps the duct of the heart open that usually closes after birth. The cardiologist suggested that Frankies best option was to be transferred to Dublin for treatment, this was during covid so Frankie was transferred that night by ambulance no one was allowed to travel with him but his daddy followed him down in the car I wasn't allowed to travel that night due to having the section earlier that day so you can imagine how stressful that was knowing u have a extremely ill baby and not even being able to be with them ...Frankie was put in icu 1 when he arrived at Dublin at this point he was still breathing pretty much on his own with a little help of oxygen mask I travelled down the next day and things were pretty much the same only you could tell frankie was really starting to struggle his we chest was barely getting a break he was working so hard ..the following day the team had met to discuss Frankie and at this point they told us that there wasn't anything more they could do for him and they wouldn't even risk a surgery with his current status and obviously he was brand new,  so they said they would move him to icu2 and he would be intubated this would hopefully help drop the pressure in his lungs and help the blood pump more round the body they said it was down to him to do all the work now ..Frankie was intubated and moved to icu2 he had lines and wires everywhere and all different drugs being pumped into his body I couldn't even look at him for longer than 10 minutes this poor we baby he became very swole with all the medication also was so hard to watch he was like this for a week then the scans were showing there was more blood flowing round so he was started being weined of the medication and then finally they removed the breathing tube and he was doing it all on his own he had the ng tube in for feeding also but he was moving in the right direction he was put onto a ward for another day in Dublin then he was transferred back up to the Clark clinic in the Royal after a day there the ng tube was also removed and he was taking bottle feed and he was still on 4 different medications for the heart but he was taking them orally he spent 6 days in Clark clinic and had gained weight so they were happy to let him home Frankie has never looked back the community nurses came out regularly for the 1st year of frankies life doing his weight and Sat's which were always great they have now stopped their visits..Frankie is also off all medication now his condition is still classed as severe but at the minute he is managing it so we'll you wouldn't know there was a thing wrong with that guy hes meeting all his milestones and more he's the most cheekiest cutest we blessing ..We know Frankie will need surgery in the future but we will cross that bridge when we have to ..I am forever grateful for the children's heartbeat trust and their support this is a small way of me giving something back if everyone could please donate every little helps 💖