MIRACLE MUM
Docs told me I was infertile but discovered I was pregnant after being hospitalised for a liver infection
AN "infertile" woman was shocked to find that she was six weeks pregnant after being admitted to hospital with a liver infection.
Hannah Rosenfelder, 29, was born with biliary atresia, a rare liver disease that can be fatal.
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By the time she was 25, she'd had two liver transplants and was told by doctors that it'd be unlikely she'd have children because her body couldn't handle pregnancy.
However, in March 2017, Hannah went to hospital with a liver infection only to discover via a routine pregnancy test, that she was actually six weeks pregnant.
In October, she gave birth to baby Hadley, at 37 weeks.
Hannah, from Colorado, USA, was diagnosed with biliary atresia at just six weeks old after being jaundiced.
It's a rare condition that affects just one in 12,000 kids in the US and occurs in the bile ducts.
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They usually allow for bile to drain from the liver to the intestines for excretion but with this condition, they become blocked.
That means that bile remains in the liver - damaging liver cells and causing cirrhosis.
Hannah had to miss a lot of school because of her illness and when she did go in, had to be hooked up to an IV drip.
"I required my first transplant at 15, but the actual surgery didn't really hit me until I got the call," she said.
"I was excited that this could mean an end to my hospital stays and a fresh start to life that I wanted badly."
Despite the new liver, Hannah was still sick and in 2015 had to spend 280 days in hospital.
At 23, she was back on the liver donor list and after her second transplant, was told that children probably wouldn't be on the horizon - which hit Hannah hard.
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Symptoms of biliary atresia
Biliary atresia kicks in shortly after birth.
It's the most common liver disease that requires transplanation.
The causes are unkown but scientists believe that it may have an auto-immune element to it.
Symptoms can include:
- jaundice (a yellow appearance of the skin and whites of the eyes) that does not improve within one to two weeks
- dark yellow or brown wee
- pale or clay-coloured poo
- enlarged liver that feels harder than normal
- poor weight gain
It can be treated temporarily with medication and special diets but the main treatment is called the Kasai procedure.
That's where surgeons re-establish bile flow from teh liver to the intestine by joining the two.
For those who don't respond fully to surgery, the only cure for the disease is liver transplant.
"When my friends started having babies while I was fighting to stay alive after my second transplant, I got really upset," she said.
"I just wanted to feel like one of the girls."
In March 2017, Hannah started getting belly pains and her skin and eyes turned yellow - the classic signs of a liver infection.
At the hospital, staff carried out a routine pregnancy test and the results were shocking.
"The doctor came in and asked whether I was aware that I was pregnant," she said.
"I was in shock and I asked him to repeat it for me three times before he finally asked me whether I understood what he was telling me."
Docs warned Hannah and her husband not to get their hopes up because there was no guarantee that the pregnancy would go to term.
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But Hannah's parents were also warned to expect her to have problems talking and walking - which never happened.
She says that fact made her confident that her little baby would be fine.
"I never worried about her or feared whether she was OK.
"I knew that she had a special calling and she was safe in me."
After a straightforward beginning, Hannah kept having to return to hospital in the third trimester with infections and was induced at 37 weeks.
MORE ON PREGNANCY
Baby Hadley was born weighing 5lb 6oz.
Hannah recalled: "The moment I held her, it was like everything stopped. I couldn't believe I was holding this precious baby that everyone else said was impossible."
"I felt so much gratitude to my donor families because if it wasn't for them, I would never have had her. Hadley has given me another reason to keep fighting for my health."
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