May 2020 – the first lockdown during Covid-19 was over when Alina was born. While life in the city was slowly returning to normal, life in the hospital was still very much dominated by unethical regulations and restrictions. After a short stay in the neonatal unit, Alina had to go straight to the cardiac intensive care unit. Only one parent was allowed to visit Alina at a time, which was checked by security at the entrance to the children‘s hospital. As a family, we made the best of it and gave Alina our full love and confidence. We developed our own rhythm so that Alina always had one parent with her and the other person could rest. 

At just 12 weeks into the pregnancy, a routine examination revealed a thickened nuchal fold. This was followed by ultrasound examinations by a specialist who, fortunately for us, was concerned from the outset that Alina had a very delicate aorta. The further along the pregnancy progressed, the more the suspicion was confirmed, and so all follow-up examinations took place at the University Hospital of Zurich. Alina was born on time with aortic isthmus stenosis and had to undergo surgery on her third day of life. The narrowed section of the aorta was removed in an operation lasting several hours, and the two healthy sections of the aorta were sutured together again in an end-to-end anastomosis. To our great relief, everything went well and, to the amazement of the doctors, Alina recovered extremely well from her condition within two weeks. 

Today, Alina is five years old and a bright, normally developed girl who attends nursery school with pride and joy. In December 2024, Alina suffered a sinus vein thrombosis, which again required intensive medical treatment and a lengthy hospital stay. But luck was on our side once more, and she made an amazing recovery. Today, Alina is doing very well again and, apart from the scar on her shoulder blade and the annual cardiological check-ups, there is no way of knowing what a rocky road this little girl has already travelled. We are incredibly grateful that we have such a high standard of medical care in Switzerland and, above all, that paediatric cardiology is so advanced.