After suffering four miscarriages over a two-year period, Kiera was delighted when she found out she was pregnant again. Her 12-week scan at the local hospital confirmed all was well, but eight weeks later doctors noticed the baby’s stomach was filling with fluid. Doctors realised the unborn child had grade 3 severe ascites to the bowel and she was advised to terminate her pregnancy. But she couldn’t give up on her little miracle. Kiera went for a scan every week for the rest of her pregnancy. And her heart was shattered further every time, as doctors continued to tell her to terminate. At her 28-week scan, doctors revealed the baby’s bowel had ruptured and told her to terminate again.
Realising amniotic fluid was being transferred into Kiera’s stomach, doctors advised her to have it drained. But she was too scared of endangering her baby’s life and refused. The fluid build-up blighted Kiera’s pregnancy, leaving her in horrendous pain and unable to move properly. Kiera was eventually born weighing a tiny 4lb 3oz and, after a few precious minutes with her mum, was taken to a different hospital Doctors had to act fast to save her life and monitored Lillee for eight weeks inside an incubator. Lillee underwent surgery for a second time at six weeks old. Only between one and three in every 10,000 babies are born with jejunal atresia with ascites. Her condition is so rare doctors are writing research papers on Lillee, who is lactose intolerant, to help future cases.
According to the brave mother, Kiera, she was reportedly told by her doctors to abort her daughter 14 times. Luckily, she has defied doctors’ advice and brought home a healthy baby girl. When the then-20-year-old mother went into labour at 34 weeks, she was terrified of losing daughter Lillee. The brave mother told The Sun that she was offered an abortion every week from her 21-week scan, because her unborn child was suffering a rare bowel disorder. She was diagnosed with jejunal atresia, an abnormal narrowing of part of her bowel. It had also caused with grade 3 severe ascites – the build up of fluid in the abdomen, which caused a catalogue of complications.
But Kiera, who suffered four miscarriages before conceiving her daughter, refused to abort her. She reportedly gave birth just half an hour after rushing to the hospital, having gone into labour naturally. The stay-at-home mum was barely able to hold her daughter before she was transferred to the hospital for surgery. Lillee had multiple life-saving operations and spent 20 weeks in hospital, before Kiera was finally able to take her home. Six months on, the baby is a happy and healthy baby girl. She has a delicate bowel, but doctors have told her mum they don’t anticipate any problems in the future. Lillie is now being monitored every three months, but she is growing stronger as she gets older.