Serena Hagerman
Before my son Sean was born I took pregnancy as a normal thing. But on June 20, 2007, at 8:05 pm something happened that changed everything.
My delivery had gone well and Sean was a good baby the first night at the hospital. But the next evening as I was breastfeeding him, the night nurse walked in and said, "There's something not quite right about how your baby is feeding." She lifted Sean gently from my arms and took him down to the intenstive care unit for some tests.
She came back a short time later and very kindly but very seriously said, "Something is wrong. We're not sure yet what it is but the paediatrician is on his way."
When the paediatrican arrived he told me Sean was struggling for oxygen and we were then immediatley put in an ambulance headed to a downtown Toronto hospital.
Sean had a heart defect known as Transposition of the Great Arteries. Simply put, his aorta was connected to his right heart ventricle and his pulmonary artery was connected to his left heart ventricle, the exact opposite of a normal heart.
Sean had a six-hour surgery to correct his heart and ten days later I took Sean home.
Today, Sean is a regular four year old except for the scar on his chest. When he's older I will explain to him that it was thanks to the wonderful staff at Oakville Hospital that helped save his life that day after he was born.