8-Year-Old Girl Is Told She Looks Pregnant in School. Her Parents Rush Her for an Ultrasound

<p>When the mother of an eight-year-old girl heard that people in school had been saying her daughter looked pregnant&comma; she panicked&period; Nothing seemed amiss to the mom&comma; but an ultrasound revealed something that left her stunned&period; An unexpected health scare is always worrisome&comma; but when it happens to the youngest member of a family&comma; things can often seem hopeless and unfair&period; Sydney-based Leia and her husband thought everything was fine with their youngest until they heard strange reports from her school&period; Eight-year-old Jada seemed healthy&comma; her parents confessed that she was tiny and frail&comma; but she&rsquo&semi;d always been like that in stature and they never really questioned it&period; Jada was also the youngest of four kids&comma; so they thought her lack of energy was merely an inability to keep up with the wild lifestyle of a busy family&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>Things changed when kids at Jada&rsquo&semi;s school started saying she looked pregnant&period; Leia couldn&rsquo&semi;t help but raise an eyebrow&period; Kids can be mean&comma; but this seemed like an exceptional case&period; Although she herself hadn&rsquo&semi;t noticed anything strange about her daughter&comma; the mom and her husband decided to consult a doctor nonetheless&period; Leia and her husband Victor had their three older kids in fairly close succession&comma; and Jada came a few years later&comma; much to the couple&rsquo&semi;s surprise&period; Unlike her siblings&comma; Jada didn&rsquo&semi;t enjoy sports and being active&comma; and when she started swimming&comma; she would turn blue and shiver after only a little while in the water&period; Jada had been small since birth&comma; and her mom mentioned she was a tiny little thing&comma; like a little stick&period; However&comma; the girl&rsquo&semi;s stomach started to swell gradually&comma; which led to her classmates and other peers remarking that she looked pregnant&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>Leia noted&comma; « We didn&rsquo&semi;t notice it at first because we saw her every day&period; » Ironically&comma; what would be chalked up to playground teasing in any other case helped save Jada&rsquo&semi;s life&period; Leia took notice of the children&rsquo&semi;s remarks&comma; deciding it would be best to investigate the situation further&period; So&comma; she and her husband took their eight-year-old daughter in for an ultrasound&period; The appointment set events in motion that Leia and Victor never thought they would have to face&period; The mom of four recalled how the technician doing the ultrasound reacted after completing the procedure and catching a glimpse of Jada&rsquo&semi;s stomach&period; Leia reflected on the ordeal with shock&comma; « We took her for an ultrasound&comma; and the man who did it&comma; well&comma; his face went wide&period; » The sonographer referred them back to their doctor&comma; who revealed that Jada&rsquo&semi;s swelling tummy was a result of all her organs being enlarged&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>Following the doctor&rsquo&semi;s dire verdict&comma; the family rushed to the hospital for emergency care&period; Jada and her family spent an entire weekend in the hospital&comma; desperately hoping there would be a solution to her condition to lessen the swelling of her organs&period; The hospital staff prescribed diuretics&comma; but due to the enormous amount of water that had gathered in her organs&comma; Jada lost a tremendous amount of water&period; Leia recalled&comma; « They gave her diuretics&comma; and Jada lost five kilos of water&period; » A nurse stayed with them because losing that much water put her at risk of cardiac arrest&period; Finally&comma; on the following Monday&comma; the hospital found a specialist who could take a look at Jada&rsquo&semi;s case&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>The transplant specialist approached the family to clarify the situation&comma; explaining that her daughter had restrictive cardiomyopathy&period; Leia noted that the diagnosis felt like a slap in the face&period; The diagnosis meant Jada would need a heart transplant&comma; news that would shock even hardened adults&period; The medical staff responsible for Jada proceeded with a series of intricate tests to prepare for the necessary procedure&comma; which included echocardiograms&period; Leia and Victor traveled to Melbourne to meet the team that would be operating on their daughter&period; The parents arrived in the capital city of Victoria still believing their daughter had a few years ahead of her&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>After meeting with the surgeons&comma; doctors&comma; and nurses assigned to Jada&comma; the pair realized how dire the situation was&period; Leia&rsquo&semi;s little girl had immediately been placed on a list of patients who were most in need of a new heart&period; The team in Melbourne conducted numerous more tests and told the two parents they needed to proceed with a transplant as soon as possible&period; However&comma; for the moment&comma; the family had to return home&period; Three months later&comma; the team had sourced the perfect heart for Jada&comma; and Leia received a call asking them to return to Melbourne&period; The family got on an airplane&comma; and Leia recalled clutching the sweet old lady&rsquo&semi;s hand the entire flight&period; Leia stated&comma; « It was exciting but so surreal&period; »<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>Leia&comma; Victor&comma; and Jada went directly to the hospital after landing&comma; where a nurse escorted them to the room&period; The surgeon introduced himself to the family&comma; and the team proceeded with the operation&period; Luckily&comma; there were no complications&comma; and the surgeon returned to the parents with good news that everything was a success&period; After the operation&comma; Jada was moved to the ICU&comma; where nurses kept an eye on her as she recovered&period; A few hours later&comma; her parents were allowed to see her&comma; and Leia recalled&comma; « We walked into the ICU hours later&period; Nothing can prepare you for that&period; I felt like I left my own body&period; I was numb&period; She was laying there lifeless&period; It was terrifying&period; »<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>Although the transplant was a success&comma; Jada experienced a few minor setbacks during her recovery&comma; which kept her in the hospital longer than anticipated&period; While the girl was recovering under the caring eyes of the hospital staff&comma; Leia and Victor stayed in accommodation provided to them by HeartKids&period; The donor heart was almost a perfect fit for the young Jada&period; She also had a visit from the Make-A-Wish Foundation&comma; who gifted her a Sphinx cat&period; Jada had chosen the hairless cat because her mom had allergies&comma; and because she&rsquo&semi;d read that the breed often had heart conditions&comma; something Jada could relate to&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>As Jada continues to undergo regular checkups to ensure the new heart isn&rsquo&semi;t being rejected&comma; Leia happily revealed that the latest test showed zero percent rejection&comma; which left the family extremely hopeful&period; Although the tests can be daunting and anxiety-inducing&comma; Jada has her cat Penelope&rsquo&semi;s support&period; The ordeal took its toll on Jada&rsquo&semi;s parents as well&comma; but Leia commented that things were finally falling into place&period; The mom learned to expect the unexpected and is happy to see her daughter live an ordinary life&period; She gushed&comma; « Jada&rsquo&semi;s healthy and strong now&period; We feel so blessed&period; »<&sol;p>&NewLine;