Sydney Groves has been dubbed a miracle baby as she beat the odds and celebrated her first birthday.
Little Sydney, from Essex, was born with gastroschisis, a rare birth defect where a baby is born with their bowel outside of their body. Her bowel was protruding from her stomach and had to be wrapped in a silo bag, which, along with gravity, helped squeeze the bowel back into Sydney’s body. Doctors were then able to stitch up her stomach.
Her parents, Paul and Fran Groves, realised something was wrong when the new mum-to-be went to get a 12-week scan at Princess Alexandra Hospital in Harlow, Essex.
“It was scary to be told at my first scan that something wasn’t right. It was the last thing that we expected,” Fran told the “Daily Mail.” “We were told our baby was just one in 3,000 babies who would be born with this condition, and we had so many concerns.”
Fran was moved to The Royal London Hospital in Whitechapel, where a team of NICU staff were on hand. It took five days for Sydney to arrive and she had to be delivered via emergency caesarean.
Sydney was unable to go to the toilet until several days after the operation, and it was weeks before she could eat. Despite a shaky start to life, she is now a healthy and happy one-year-old.
“She’s wonderful,” Fran said. “To look at her now, it’s amazing to think what she’s been through. She’s a star.”
Photo credit: PA Real Life
