Alexi's surprise pregnancy wasn't the only surprise he had in store for us. Less than 12 hours after his birth a midwife doing routine checks noticed that his lips were a bit blue and took him for further checks.

The paediatric team at Barnsley General Hospital concluded that he wasn't receiving sufficient oxygen and suspected that here was a problem with his heart. Unfortunately they didn't have the facilities at the hospital to diagnose a specific cause, so Alexi was transferred to Leeds General Infirmary via Embrace, a specialist ambulance service for critically ill infants in the Yorkshire area. 

Upon Alexi's arrival at LGI, he was taken for an MRI scan and they discovered that he had a congenital heart condition called Transposition of the Great Arteries (TGA). The two main arteries of the heart that transport oxygen-rich blood from the lungs (pulmonary artery) to the rest of the body (aorta) were the wrong way around, thus not allowing oxygenated blood to be delivered around the body. 

This is a condition that can be detected during a regular antenatal ultrasound, however it can still be difficult to detect and most sonographers aren't trained to look for some heart conditions. Unfortunately this was the case for Alexi which meant his oxygen saturation had been gradually decreasing after birth.

The LGI paediatric team performed a Balloon Atrial Septostemy which allowed more oxygen to be transferred around the body, stabilising Alexi in preparation for the main surgery, an Arterial Switch, to correct his TGA.