By Kieran Webster

Copyright glasgowlive

An Airdrie mum has shared the story of her five month old daughter being diagnosed with a heart defect at just 12 weeks old.

Aimee Mundt decided to get her daughter Gracie checked over by medics after she had a “gut feeling” something was not quite right with her beloved new-born after a number of symptoms started showing.

Following a traumatic birth in April, where she needed resuscitation for 11 minutes, little Gracie was struggling to keep warm. Even during this summer’s heatwaves, Gracie needed blankets, with her hands and parts of her body mottled.

However, despite Aimee’s fears, medics told her it was a normal thing for new-borns to experience.

It was during an unrelated hospital admission with bronchiolitis when a consultant found that Gracie had a heart murmur. She was referred to cardiology and she was eventually diagnosed with pulmonary stenosis – a congenital heart defect where the pulmonary valve is narrowed, obstructing blood flow from the heart’s right ventricle to the lungs.

Aimee, 25, told Glasgow Live: “We believe she did have symptoms but we didn’t really think ‘oh, it could be her heart’.

“She had a very funny colouring, her hands, especially, were kind of purple and her entire body was mottled. We kept raising this as a concern but was told it’s normal in new-borns and just to warm her up.

“She was born in April and we had all those heatwaves, our house was sitting at 26 degrees, and she’d be in a vest, sleepsuit and a swaddle and she’d still be mottled afterwards so we knew she wasn’t just cold.

“I had said on a few occasions that I wanted her heart checked because my gut just felt something wasn’t quite right.”

Thankfully, Grace’s case appears to be a mild one and isn’t receiving treatment for now, but she is still under active monitoring.

She also has a form of anorectal malformation, which Aimee believes is quite common for babies to have heart defects alongside.

After finding out about her condition, she got in touch with charity Tiny Tickers, where her and her husband Matt, 25, connected with parents going through a similar situation.

She added: “We are very hopeful that Gracie’s heart defect can actually improve and potentially resolve – that is the real hope for us but we would obviously take stability too.

“She’s got another echocardiogram coming up where we will get a better idea of her condition and hopefully get the all clear from needing any treatments.

“Since connecting with Tiny Tickers, we have seen parents sharing a whole range from mild to critical congenital heart defects and I just want to emphasise that we are so thankful that Gracie’s condition is mild, but it has thrown us into a world that we never expected to be thrown into.

“A world of new terminology, appointments and worries. Seeing how strong all these amazing babies in the Tiny Tickers parents groups on Facebook and the amazing work that they do to raise awareness and deliver training, and provide support to parents and families.

“Although Gracie is mild, we’ve been welcomed into the community with open arms, there is absolutely no comparison between a baby who is mild and may never require treatment to one fighting fit their lives so my heart absolutely goes out to everyone fighting these battles.”

To give back to the charity that helps so many families, Aimee and Matt are taking on the 1 in 100 challenge. Aimee plans to do 100 squats every day in October, while Matt will be running 100km over the month.

The couple want to raise awareness of the condition, and improve education on early diagnosis, which can drastically improve outcomes.

Aimee added: “I said to Matt when we were deciding to take part in the challenge that we can’t change the outcome of Gracie’s condition – whether she improves, resolves or worsens – but what we can do is raise awareness, help raise funds to deliver training so early diagnosis is possible, so less babies are sent home with undiscovered CHDs.

“I hope any funds we raise will benefit everyone that needs support.”

You can donate to Aimee and Matt’s fundraiser for Tiny Tickers online here.

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