We are the Olney family, I am Allison and I married Adam in 1996. Working hard we delayed kids for 6 years then in 2002 I fell pregnant. Two weeks after discovering I was pregnant I had some spotting, it was my 1st pregnancy and I thought the worst. Rushing home I called my sister Christine, and my obstetrician & went straight in for an ultrasound fearing the worse, and not yet telling Adam. The ultrasound took some time and they even called in a second person to have a look. I then panicked. The two ladies pointed to the screen and said, "See those two dots, you're pregnant with twins and we can hear their heartbeats!". It was so exciting, I was over the moon to say the least. I surprised Adam that night by leaving the ultrasound photos on the table for him to find. From this point on my pregnancy went fine, I never had high blood pressure, swollen feet or morning sickness. At 27 weeks I had a baby shower & three days later I went to my obstetrician, who said she couldn't see the 1st twins heart very well and thought that there may be a problem with the baby's heart. She said the baby may have a hole in its heart, but that this condition was not a big issue nowadays with today's knowledge. I was devastated and I called Adam and told him there was a problem with one of the babies and that I needed another ultrasound with the cardiologist at Liverpool Hospital. Adam got off work and came home straight away. The cardiologist at Liverpool hospital said there was a problem with twin ones heart and made an appointment with Dr Sholler at Westmead Children's Hospital the next day..and what a long night it was....We found out that twin 1 had a condition known as Hypoplastic Left Heart Syndrome. Dr Sholler said Sydney, Melbourne or America may do the procedures and continued by stating, "Chances of the baby surviving the operations is  30%". We were also told to expect the worst as twins are commonly premature which halves the chance of survival and chances are the baby may be mentally or physically challenged, adding "if he does survive the procedures his quality of life may not be good and this will affect you two and the other baby". He also told us to take a few days to think about it and get back to him on what we wanted to do. Our options where to take a chance and have the operations or do nothing and let nature take its course. We called him back the next day and said we would do the Sydney option, He said great he would arrange it. He called us back saying that Sydney no longer does the operation due to insurance issues. We where at a loss as what to do now, then we heard Melbourne was an option, so we chose to go to Melbourne. Dr Sholler put us in touch with Dr Penny in Melbourne who said they will definitely take us but we had to be there within two weeks. So Adam moved myself and my sister Christine 850 km to Melbourne!. We left on the 14/10/02, Adam returning to Sydney to continue working.  At 37 weeks I hadn't gone into labour yet, so at 38 weeks (due to Dr Brizard's impending leave and that he had to be around for 1st operation and 2 weeks following) they induced me. After 5.5 hrs I was only 5cm dilated but no heads had moved down so I had a C-section. Adam and mum drove down from Sydney arriving just in time. On Wednesday 13/11/02 Haydan (HLHS) was born at 6:06 pm weighing 3165kg and Jordan was born at 6.07 pm and weighed 3240kg. The Doctors could not tell which baby was HLHS so both boys were taken to be checked in ICU. They decided that Haydan had the problem and was taken by NETS transport to the Royal Children's Hospital. The NETS team dropped into the ward I was in so I could see Haydan before they took him away. Daily Adam would visit Haydan and send him, mum and Jordan's love, taking photos and videotaping, as I was still in the Royal Women's Hospital and would stay there for 5 days due to complications from the C-section. I saw Haydan for the first time since his birth when he was 5 days old on the morning of his "NORWOOD STAGE I WITH RV TO PA CONDUIT", the date was 18/11/02. Haydan went in at 10am and was out again at 6:30pm. It seemed like so very long, but finally an hour later I could see Haydan in ICU. It was extremely emotional. Dr Brizard came and talked to us and said Haydan is not out of the woods and the surgery took a little longer as we had trouble taking him off the dialysis machine, but he was very pleased with how it all went. Thank goodness everything went well. Haydan's chest was closed on 22/11/02 and he stayed in ICU for a total of  7 days. Nurse Holli, was fabulous, very confident and capable, I felt at ease when she was Haydan's night nurse. Adam, Jordan in a double pram and I, could not all be in ICU at the same time, so this meant we could never see Haydan together so we took turns visiting Haydan and looking after Jordan. Haydan went to 7 west on the  25/11/02 and Nurse Karen watched him a lot, she talked straight talk and we thank her dearly for that. Haydan's oxygen saturation before surgery was approx 73% and after the operation it increased to 75-80% max, this was considered to be low so he was monitored. The oxygen saturation for a healthy baby is 98 - 99%.  The monitor and hourly notes confirmed that everything was fine. Haydan looked great and the Doctors were happy . Haydan was in 7 West for a few days when they discovered fluid in his chest, restricting both his heart and his breathing, (pericardial and left pleural effusion), so on 28/11/02 Haydan was back to surgery, the fluid was drained and a catheter was left in his chest to drain any more fluid out. The operation took 3 hours and when it was finished he was taken back to 7 West where I was to try bottle feeding him for the first time. He was to start with only 20mls every hour . Haydan took well to bottle feeding straight away, which is rare for HLHS babies, so I made sure I was there for as many feeds as possible, each feed could take up to an hour. Within 5 days his bottle feeding was up to 60mls every 3 hours, and his nose tube was taken out. On the 10/12/02 Haydan was almost 3.5 weeks old, he was allowed to come to parent accommodation for day visits, very exciting!. After two days of this he came to stay with us in the accommodation, he went back for "Rounds", where Haydan was checked over. We were very grateful and very lucky that there were no issues. To our amazement on the 23/12/02, just 5 weeks after the stage one Norwood operation,  Swee Cum,(care nurse)called and said we could go back to Sydney and in around 2 months they would send a letter with the exact date to return to Melbourne for stage 2 of the Norwood procedure. We were told this at 2:30pm 23/12/02. Adam took the boys for a walk in the park and I packed like crazy being so excited by the news. We gave our groceries to a neighbour and donated our pram to 7 West, (as we had no room in the car). We did not tell my family we were coming home. At 9pm we left Melbourne and started the 850 km trip home to Sydney. The long trip went really smooth. Before leaving I called my mum and sisters and asked them to check our mail at home as early as possible as we were expecting something really important. Christmas Eve they got the surprise of their lives to see us home and to see the boys for the 1st time since the day they were born. We had a very relaxing, happy, and exciting day together.  The next  2 months in Sydney went really smooth, as the boys settled in fairly well. You couldn't tell Haydan had any problem, except he was often rosy. We saw Dr Sholler 3 times and he said everything looked great. Haydan slept  9pm-6am nightly without waking, no more night feeds, (Medication was given during his sleep).  Before we new it was time for Stage 2 Operation, "New Norwood" so we arrived back in Melbourne 11/3/03. Haydan had the catheter on 13/3/03, and stage 2 of the Norwood Operation was on the 18/3/03. We had to be there at 7am, but had a very long wait as we did not go in until 5pm. At 1030pm Haydan came out of surgery and we were very pleased to hear everything had gone fine. He was taken to ICU for just 3.5 hours as a precaution and at 2am 14/03/03 he went back to 7 West. The next morning he was feeding by bottle once again, lucky as he kept pulling the feeding tube out of his nose. He threw up his first feed all 90mls. I was worried and called urgently to nurse, who said he was to be fed slow as his drugs were still wearing off. From this point on he was an unhappy baby crying all the time, very loudly, all day, and all night. I think he hated the fact his bed was behind 7 West nurses desk with lights and phones It was extremely upsetting for Haydan and ourselves, and they couldn't do anything about it. Haydan would only sleep in my arms which he had never done before. They also put oxygen tube under his nose as his oxygen saturation levels went down to 55-60% during his sleep. The oxygen tube was constantly being pulled away by Haydan. I couldn't stay overnight as section 2 in 7 West was the only room parents couldn't sleep in the chair beside there babies, so I left and saw Jordan for a while. These were very emotional times for all of us. They decided to keep the oxygen off and monitor Haydan constantly. Dr Brizard said all his monitor readings were fine, and that his colour was blue/pale but its obviously how he'll be, (Jordan is also a very pale baby). I felt extremely uneasy as other parents were bothered by Haydan's crying, as they had their own issues to deal with. The Cardiologist, and Doctors stated that the new blood flow can give them headaches causing them to be irritable. Haydan came and spent a week with the rest of the family in the Ronald McDonald house, where at about 2pm on the 03/04/03 we got a call out of blue saying Haydan could go home to Sydney, so we left that night, once again thankfully the boys slept all night during the trip. Once arriving back home Haydan went back to sleeping all night and being the happy little boy we few within days. Haydan and Jordan reached 8 months old on 13/7/03.  Haydan now weighs 8.9kg and Jordan weighs 10.3kg. Both boys have 2 teeth, they love broccoli, carrots, sweet potato, banana and have wheatbix for breaky. Since May 2003 they have fed themselves their bottles and sleep from 7pm till 6am nightly, sleeping right through, though they may occasionally wake for a dummy, . Haydan rolls everywhere, does combat crawl and  will stand for about 10seconds at a time with support and can move backwards in his walker. As for medications, he is now only on Captopril 0.3ml *3 daily and 3.5ml aspirin once, (no more spironolactone). Jordan runs around the house in his walker and can stand forever. Both boys shake their heads no, and now understand "uh uh no", so our plants are not been eaten any more and our oven is not being approached. They constantly laugh at each other and fight over toys, (Haydan always wins). Haydan gets a little puffed trying to keep up with his brother. Haydan has very chubby cheeks and is extremely ticklish, and both boys have found a new toy in the bath..boys will be boys.....

Thankyou for reading!