Hi!!!

I'm Mary-Anne Brigitte Kirby 💗🌻

I am from Nottingham and the 5th child (2nd daughter) of Peter and Colette Kirby 💙💙💙💗💗 I was born on the 13th September 2020 weighing 6lb 6oz 🥰

When I was born, there was something about me nobody knew 🥺 although I looked perfect on the outside, something was very wrong inside of me 💔

I didn't wake to feed or 💩 after my 2nd day. I was mistaken for a slow starter but Mother's instinct quickly took hold of my Mummy and she couldn't settle or sleep, begging for someone, anyone to listen 💔 exactly a week after I was born I did a massive green sick (bilious vomit) and that was it, Mummy took me straight to the A+E department at the Queens Medical Centre and that's where my story really begins 💙🌈

I was followed to dye scans by surgeons ready to act at a moments notice and within 14 hours of arriving at the QMC I was in theatre receiving emergency life saving surgery for suspected malrotation💚 of the bowels with volvulous (twisting causing bowel obstruction) 😢 at this point I only weighed around 5lb 7oz and hadn't eaten atall for 2 days I was very poorly and my family could only pray for me 🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏

The longest 5 hours of my family's lives passed when my surgeon and real life hero, let's call him Mr M, came to speak to Mummy and Daddy.... I had made it 💪🙏 I had had a laparotomy, LADDS procedure and an appendectomy. My bowels were not fully rotated but partially, something they called 'non rotation', they had put it back in place as best they could, the blockage was found to be 💩 and had not ruptured my bowels 🙏🙌my colon had been reconstructed as it was severely deformed and samples sent off to check for hirschprungs disease (this came back clear 2 weeks later 🙌) they had also removed my appendix as it was on the 'wrong' side, to save me from having appendicitis misdiagnosed in the future 🙏 I'm definitely unique, they all said they'd never really seen anything quite like my insides 😳🤣💗

I spent two weeks on ward D35 recovering, the 💩 finally passed a few days after surgery and my first 💩 was cause for massive celebration from my family 🥳 it meant my bowels were working finally 🙌 staff worked round the clock, looking after me 24/7, supporting my mummy (who remember had just given birth a week before and due to the pandemic was missing my siblings desperately), helping with night feeds so mummy could rest, spending hours putting cannulas in for them to fail almost immediately, taking regular bloods/tests, watching me round the clock and regularly changed plans with every curve ball I threw at them 🙊💙

After discharge, I failed to thrive at first, struggling with constipation and not really gaining weight until Christmas 2020 when I was 3 months old 💗

My condition typically comes hand in hand with other abnormalities, for this reason Mr M, his team, my dietician and community paediatrian follow my development closely 🙏 I've had many tests and will have a hearing test soon and will have a heart scan next year ❤️🤞 I am so thankful that no chances are taken with me 🙏 so far nothing else has been found 🙌

Mr M still doesn't 100% believe he found the true cause of my bowel obstruction because he didn't find a volvulous and although Mummy is quietly confident that it was just the 💩 I'm just so so grateful that I'm kept a close eye on and no stone is left unturned for me🥰

I am at an increased risk of bowel obstruction requiring further surgery in the future but I'M NOT SCARED!! My Mummy knows the signs (distended stomach, bilious vomit, going off food, fatigue, constipation/dioreha, abdominal pain) and would get me back to the QMC in minutes where my heroes would work their magic without delay 💙🌈

Very little is known about my condition, most people that I meet (including medical professionals) have never heard of it which is why part of my mission is to raise awareness, it is a potentially fatal condition and because people like me are rare, not all are so lucky 💔 I know how lucky I am to be alive but it shouldn't be about luck 😔 I believe that I was put on this earth to spread the word and save others 🤗

Today I am almost 7 months old, thriving hard with only odd bouts of constipation that clear of their own accord and I'm smashing my milestones before they're due💪 

My bowels will never be 'normal' and some bits are still misplaced but they did the best they could in surgery and my bowels are fully functional at present 🙌 I'm med free and a cheeky, active, smiley little miracle even if I do say so myself 🥰 I owe all this and indeed my life to the QMC and our amazing NHS 💙🌈

If it hadn't of been for the QMC, their staff, quick responses and the NHS in general I wouldn't still be here to tell you my story and this is why I need YOUR help 🤗

I would like to pay back the QMC, provide much needed funding to our precious NHS at this crazy time, benefit children like me and last but not least, help to ensure that should I require assistance in the future it is always there🙏🤞, all whilst raising awareness of my condition 🙌

I've set my target for £5000, Mummy always tells me to reach for the stars ✨ and aim high and I smash everything else so I'm hoping to smash this too🤞 🙌  The QMC did me proud, it's my turn to do them proud 😘

My Mummy and Auntie Victoria are running the Robin Hood Marathon in aid of my mission on the 26th September 2021 (13.1 miles 😬), they've never ran before so it should be interesting 🤣 apparently they want to show me that we are capable of anything we put our minds to but 🤫 I already know this duhhhh 🙊 I survived what should have killed me at just 8 days old 💪 you can follow their training progress aswell as my journey and read more about my story on Instagram/Facebook......

@theressomethingaboutmaryanne 

Watch this space to see what Daddy will do for my mission... Any suggestions welcome 🤣😘

I will also be doing my very own fundraisers, and invite you to hold your own in aid of my mission, whether it be a bake sale, sponsored walk, skydive, whatever tickles your fancy 😉

I also invite you to share my story and help me to raise awareness ❤️

Thankyou so much for taking the time to read about me and my mission 🤗

Lots of love 

Mary-Anne 💗🌻

P. S 💙🌈THANKYOU NHS 🌈💙 (Just because I can never say this enough times🙏) 

💚🧡💙💚🧡💙💚🧡💙💚🧡💙💚

💚An intestinal malrotation is an abnormality that can happen early in pregnancy when a baby's intestines don't form into a coil in the abdomen. Malrotation means that the intestines (or bowel) are twisting, which can cause obstruction (blockage) very little is known about it and although it's believed to be congenital (meaning born with) cases within families have been found begging the question as to whether it could in fact be a hereditary condition. No cause is known for it. 💚

💙Symptoms include, but are not limited to:- bilious (green, yellow, foamy, coffee ground) vomit, distended (swollen) abdomen, intense stomach pain, constipation/dioreha, lethargy and going off food). 💙

🧡It occurs in 1 in 2500-3000 births in the UK and 1 in 500 in America. It is rarely found on antenatal ultrasounds(mine wasn't, my scans were perfect), usually found shortly after birth or in baby's first year but it's a ticking time bomb that can also go undetected for years. It is often misdiagnosed or missed with fatal outcomes. 🧡

💚For more info please search for the Intestinal Malrotation Foundation, it's based in America (shockingly there is nothing like this in the UK just yet but I'm hoping I can change that🤞), you will find lots of info, stories like mine and also unfortunately many stories where people were not so lucky, which is why I'm here on my mission 💚