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Halfway through her pregnancy a shocking discovery was made on Shayna Hulm's baby scan - now her unborn son Hector faces a life-saving battle once he's born
A young mum has revealed the devastating moment her unborn baby was diagnosed with a rare life-threatening heart defect halfway through her pregnancy.
Shayna Hulm, 33, went for her 20-week ultrasound scan - which is sometimes called an anatomy or anomaly scan - at Logan Hospital, south of Brisbane, on May 18.
The 45-minute scan looks in detail at the baby's bones, heart, brain, spinal cord, face, kidneys and abdomen, and allows the sonographer to check for 11 rare conditions.
Ms Hulm told Daily Mail Australia she sensed something was wrong when the scan took nearly four hours to complete.
'We knew that there was something going on, but the sonographers aren't allowed to say anything because they're not doctors,' Ms Hulm said.
'They spent like two and a half hours trying to get good photos and videos of his heart.'
The soon-to-be mum-of-three was referred to the Logan maternity fetal clinic and within a week had a more comprehensive ultrasound performed by an experienced sonographer.
Straight after the ultrasound, Ms Hulm and her partner Jonnie were told by a cardiologist their baby boy Hector had dextro-transposition of the great arteries.
At her 20-week ultrasound scan, Shayna Hulm was told her baby boy Hector had a rare heart defect known as dextro-transposition of the great arteries
Ms Hulm (pictured) was told her baby would need life-saving open-heart surgery once he is born
Dextro-transposition of the great arteries (D-TGA) is a serious and rare congenital heart defect in which the two main arteries leaving the heart are reversed.
In D-TGA, the pulmonary artery connects to the left lower heart chamber and the aorta connects to the right lower heart chamber.
This means oxygen-poor blood goes back to the body without passing through the lungs, while the oxygen-rich blood goes directly back into the lungs without being pumped to the rest of the body.
Doctors informed Ms Hulm the condition would not affect Hector while inside the womb as his blood supply and oxygen came from her placenta.
However, once Hector is born he will need open-heart surgery to correct the defects.
Hector also does not have a the standard hole in his heart - which is a natural and essential way for fetuses to prevent blood from going into their lungs.
Once a baby is born and starts using its lungs, the hole usually closes within the first day.
Ms Hulm said there were two options to fix the heart defect, which will be determined by the outcome of her 38-week ultrasound scan.
She explained if a small hole develops in Hector's heart, doctors will attempt to enlarge it via a balloon through his umbilical cord and she will have the option between a caesarean or natural birth.
Then Hector will be given a drug to help his heart function, and if successful, open-heart surgery will be performed two to three weeks later at Queensland Children's Hospital in Brisbane.
His open-heart surgery will also be performed at the Children's Hospital in Brisbane if he develops a large enough hole while in the womb.
If Hector does not develop a hole in his heart while in the womb doctors will deliver him via a caesarean section and immediately operate on him at Mater Hospital.
'What happens when he's first born is still a little bit up in the air,' Ms Hulm said.
'Whether he'll have surgery as soon as he's born, or whether we'll have to wait two to three weeks to do the actual swapping over of the arteries, which is the major heart surgery, we don't know yet.
'But we've been told he will be taken straight away and it could be up to a few days before we're able to see him.'
Dextro-transposition of the great arteries (D-TGA) is a serious and rare congenital heart defect in which the main arteries - pulmonary and aorta - are reversed
Hector has a long road to recovery either way, and could spend up to six months in hospital, which will put a significant emotional and financial strain on the family.
Ms Hulm owns a small beauty salon and has not been able to work as she has been on bed rest for the majority of her pregnancy.
Her partner, Jonnie, is a Fly-In Fly-Out worker on oil rigs and is often gone for two to four weeks at a time.
She said if Jonnie misses Fly-Out day, the family goes weeks without an income, however if he does go to work he would potentially miss Hector's birth and surgery.
The pair also have two sons, 13-year-old Darius and four-year-old Darren, who are eagerly awaiting their little brother.
Ms Hulm started a GoFundMe page to raise funds to help support her family financially as the pair are unable to work and will have to pay travel, parking and accommodation expenses while Hector is in hospital.
'My income has already been affected... and I'm unable to stay at the hospital full-time while Hector is a patient,' Ms Hulm said.
'We're currently trying to manage how travel, parking and accommodation will look like as I recovery from my C-section and have a baby that is unable to leave the NICU for months.
'We are unfortunately not eligible for any government assistance with parking or accommodations. Not to mention still caring and providing for our two sons at home.'
Ms Hulm labelled having to pay up to $40 a day for parking, especially for people who have a family member in hospital for a long-term stay, as 'insanity'.
She and her partner are applying for a parking subsidy but may not be eligible as they live in a 'grey area' between 30 to 50km away from the hospital.
'I thought that if you had a child or were a long-term stay in the hospital, that parking would definitely be subsidized,' Ms Hulm said.
'I couldn't imagine, if you don't qualify for the subsidy, having to paying $40 every day for like, six to eight months. That is just insanity, especially if you can't work.'
Despite Hector's gut-wrenching diagnosis and uncertainty surrounding his medical journey, Ms Hulm said she and her partner have remained positive.
Ms Hulm praised the support she has received from her partner Jonnie (pictured), and the nurses and doctors at both Logan Hospital and Mater Hospital
A GoFundMe page was started for the family to raise money to help cover travel, parking and accommodation expenses once Hector (pictured) is born and is in hospital for treatment
She also praised the support she has received from her partner Jonnie, and the nurses and doctors at both Logan Hospital and Mater Hospital.
'Honestly, my mind was so all over the place that without like him, I don't know how I would have handled it,' Ms Hulm said.
'We are very, very blessed with a very good support system from both the Logan and Mater Hospitals, I was really comforted by their level of care.
'Being able to find out so early and to be able to prepare for what is ahead is like a miracle.'
Ms Hulm and her partner Jonnie have decided Hector's middle name will be Tumanako - the Māori word for hope.
'My partner was really adamant that he wanted his middle name to be Tumanako,' Ms Hulm said.
'When we found out that he had this heart condition, the strength and the pull that my partner felt towards the name was so strong.
'It's a very special name to us and now has even more meaning with the long journey ahead of our baby boy.'
At the time of writing, the GoFundMe had received 15 donations totalling $6,845 and had a goal of raising $30,000.