Million-dollar-baby beats odds, becomes mother

Million-dollar-baby beats odds, becomes mother

After spending the first decade of her life in and out of hospital under the knife, Stefania Little, 24, quickly became known as Perth's million-dollar baby. 

Born with Hirschprungs disease, a incurable condition affecting the colon, Mrs Little told Daily Mail she didn't get to have a childhood.

'It's horrible, really challenging ... I basically lived in hospital,' she said. 

Stefania Little (left) defied doctors after giving birth to daughter, Samantha, 6, (centre) who she raises with husband Peter Little (right) after being told she shouldn't have children

Mrs Little was born (pictured with colonoscopy bag) with Hirschprungs disease and has had hundreds of surgeries in her life where she was quickly nicknamed Perth's million-dollar-baby

Mrs Little (far left) proved doctors wrong after being told not to have children and gave birth to newborn son in 2013, Damien, (pictured left) with Peter (right) and Samantha, 6, (middle)

'I remember screaming going into surgery, they basically had to sedate me.' 

With few memories of her childhood spent in hospital, Mrs Little said she remembers it being a happy time where she could colour with her mum or walk around the hospital helping the nurses. 

Defying the odds, the 24-year-old said she was always told she shouldn't have children because of the tissue damage caused by all the surgeries and the chance she would pass the disease, but she sure enough surprised everyone when she discovered she was six months pregnant.

 'I went ahead and did it anyway, I think I wanted to prove the doctors wrong,' Mrs Little said. 

Her daughter Samantha, 6, was diagnosed with Hirschprungs disease when she was six days old.

'My mum looked at her and said right we have to take her to hospital, she has Hirschprungs,' Mrs Little said. 

Both Mrs Little's children (pictured) were born with the disease but Damien died at 9-days-old from chromosome 9 and had holes in his heart

Mrs Little said the disease had been horrible but was able to live life with husband Peter (both pictured on their wedding day in 2016)

Mrs Little (middle) wants to raise awareness about the disease after she was inspired by her mum Sharon Cannella (right) and father Sam Cannella (left)

'I was in denial, I didn't want her to have it ... I blamed myself.

'Mum said it was deja-vu for her.'

While Mrs Little was undergoing continual surgeries during her childhood, her little brother was born at 24 weeks and spent months in an incubator.

'Mum was basically running around the hospital for six months to a year with two kids in hospital,' she said. 

Mrs Little (pictured) said one in 5000 babies are born with Hirschprungs like her son (pictured)

Mrs Little said she used to blame herself for passing the disease on to her children (son Damien pictured centre)

Treating Hirschprungs disease involves removing the bits of the colon that don't work where the healthy parts of the colon get connected together.

For Mrs Little, her bowel was spotted with bits that didn't work, making surgery a regular occurrence which involved having her stomach cut open from one side to the other.

However, Samantha was treated with key hole surgery where they cut out 30cm of her bowels when she was nine days old. 

In 2013, Mrs Little gave birth for the second time to son, Damien, who she shared with husband Peter Little.

Damien was also born with Hirschprungs disease, but died at nine-days-old from a rare gene mutation called chromosome 9 and had ho les in his heart.

Mrs Little (pictured left) and daughter Samantha (middle) manage to live with the disease with their two dogs and Peter (right) but want more people to be aware of Hirschprungs

Mrs Little said one in 5000 babies are born with the disease.

'I'm hoping to push it out there so it's spoken about ... there's Crohn's disease and irritable bowel syndrome but Hirschprung's gets swept under the carpet,' she said. 

'If it's not treated it can be fatal.'

Mrs Little manages to live with the disease through the use of a pace-maker type device lodged inside her back which leads to her bowels and helps them function, something her daughter may have to face one day.

The device needs to a battery change every two or three years where Mrs Little has to fly to Sydney for the operation which involves getting her back cut open every time, something she has had to do since getting the device when she was 16-years-old.

'I make a joke out of it, I make myself a goal because I can't prevent the number of surgeries ... by the time I pass away (my surgery goal) is 300 - I've had 150, I'm half way,' Mrs Little said.  

But Perth's million-dollar-baby continues to live her life running her own business and raising awareness on the disease. 

And when asked what she thought of being called Perth's million-dollar-baby, Mrs Little laughed, saying 'I would like it in cash'.

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