
<p><strong>PHOTOS: Little Girl Lives With Stomach, Liver &; Bowel Outside Her Body In UK</strong></p>



<p>The mound doesn&#8217;t bother the little girl, who loves to cradle her exomphalos when her bandages are removed for bath time, often stroking it and saying &#8216;ah tummy&#8217;.</p>



<p>Meet the &#8216;inside-out&#8217; little girl who was born with her stomach, liver and bowel on the outside of her body &#8211; and left doctors stunned by living such a normal life.</p>



<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img src="https://cdn.occupygh.com/file/occupygh/2020/08/Laurel-Phizacklea-1.jpeg" alt="" class="wp-image-65958"/><figcaption>PHOTOS: Little Girl Lives With Stomach, Liver &; Bowel Outside Her Body In UK</figcaption></figure>



<p>Laurel Phizacklea, two, wasn&#8217;t expected to survive birth because of a cruel condition which occurs when the baby&#8217;s abdominal wall does not form during pregnancy.</p>




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<p class="has-text-color has-very-dark-gray-color">Her parents, Kelly, 30, and Sean, 34, were offered a termination at their 12-week scan when doctors diagnosed their unborn child with a major exomphalos<a href="https://occupygh.com/photos-little-girl-lives-with-stomach-liver-bowel-outside-her-body-in-uk">.</a></p>



<p>But Laurel&#8217;s parents decided to give her a chance and the tot defied medics predictions when she was born at Addenbrookes Hospital, Cambridge in June 2018.</p>




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<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img src="https://cdn.occupygh.com/file/occupygh/2020/08/Laurel-Phizacklea-3.jpeg" alt="" class="wp-image-65959"/><figcaption>PHOTOS: Little Girl Lives With Stomach, Liver &; Bowel Outside Her Body In UK</figcaption></figure>



<p>Most babies with the condition have the organs reinserted into their body at birth, but due to the unusually large size of Laurel&#8217;s exomphalos, doctors warned she wouldn&#8217;t be able to have them internalised until she is three years old.</p>



<p>Laurel was left with a protruding bump from her tiny tummy &#8211; which her parents have to wrap in bandages to support her external organs, in case the weight of them were to pull anything else out of her body.</p>




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<p>Skin has formed around the organs, and Laurel can eat, drink and go to the toilet like any other toddler &#8211; but her parents have to keep an eye on their &#8216;daredevil&#8217; tot, as any injuries to the exomphalos would be irreparable.</p>



<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img src="https://cdn.occupygh.com/file/occupygh/2020/08/Laurel-Phizacklea-4.jpeg" alt="" class="wp-image-65960"/><figcaption>PHOTOS: Little Girl Lives With Stomach, Liver &; Bowel Outside Her Body In UK</figcaption></figure>



<p class="has-text-color has-very-dark-gray-color">The mound doesn&#8217;t bother the little girl, who loves to cradle her exomphalos when her bandages are removed for bath time, often stroking it and saying &#8216;ah tummy&#8217;<a href="https://occupygh.com/photos-little-girl-lives-with-stomach-liver-bowel-outside-her-body-in-uk">.</a> Kelly, a volunteer supporting parents in neonatal care, from Cambridge, Kent, said: &#8220;I don&#8217;t know how we remained positive throughout my pregnancy with Laurel.</p>



<p>&#8220;It really looked as if she wouldn&#8217;t survive birth &#8211; but Sean and I never gave up hope and she has done us so proud.</p>



<p>&#8220;Her pouch of organs on her tummy is a part of her and she doesn&#8217;t let it get her down.</p>



<p>&#8220;Laurel is a true inspiration and amazes us every day.&#8221;</p>



<p>Laurel and Sean, a car dismantler, were over the moon when they discovered they were expecting their first child in October 2017.</p>



<p>The couple excitedly attended their 12-week scan to get their first glimpse of their baby &#8211; but were blindsided by the news that something was wrong.</p>



<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img src="https://cdn.occupygh.com/file/occupygh/2020/08/Laurel-Phizacklea-2.jpeg" alt="" class="wp-image-65961"/><figcaption>PHOTOS: Little Girl Lives With Stomach, Liver &; Bowel Outside Her Body In UK</figcaption></figure>



<p>&#8220;They said that our baby&#8217;s organs were on the outside of the body,&#8221; Kelly said. &#8220;I couldn&#8217;t believe that was even possible.&#8221;</p>



<p>Doctors explained that the couple&#8217;s unborn child had exomphalos &#8211; a type of abdominal wall defect which occurs when a child&#8217;s abdomen does not develop fully while in the womb.</p>



<p>Early in all pregnancies, the intestine develops inside the umbilical cord and then usually moves inside the abdomen a few weeks later.</p>



<p>In exomphalos, the intestines &#8211; and in this case the stomach, liver and bowel &#8211; remain inside the umbilical cord but outside the abdomen.</p>



<p>Doctors also determined that Kelly and Sean&#8217;s baby had a spinal deformity &#8211; and the pair were offered a termination.</p>



<p>&#8220;We couldn&#8217;t quite believe what we were hearing when they offered us an abortion,&#8221; Kelly said.</p>



<p>&#8220;People kept saying: &#8216;It&#8217;s OK, you can try again&#8217; &#8211; but I didn&#8217;t want another baby. &#8220;I was so in love with this baby and we knew we would do everything we could for her.&#8221;</p>



<p>Amazingly, after just three-and-a-half-months in Addenbrookes Hospital, Cambridge, Laurel was able to return home.</p>



<p>&#8220;We knew she&#8217;d need the big operation further down the line, but just having her home was so special,&#8221; Kelly said.</p>



<p>&#8220;We quickly realised she was an adventurous baby, so knew we&#8217;d need to keep an eye on her so she wouldn&#8217;t damage her exomphalos.&#8221;</p>



<p>Surgeons warned the couple that if Laurel damages her external organs, there&#8217;s nothing they can do &#8211; so the family are patiently waiting until Laurel turns three and can have her organs internalised.</p>



<p>If inserted into the body too soon, and when her frame is too small, the diaphragm wouldn&#8217;t be able to cope with the sudden lack of space with which to operate.</p>



<p>As it is, Laurel will have to &#8216;learn how to breathe again&#8217; when she undergoes the operation at the beginning of 2021.</p>



<p>&#8220;Even though we try to make sure she&#8217;s sensible and careful, it&#8217;s so hard with a two-year-old,&#8221; Kelly said. She still tries to jump off the arm of the sofa, and loves being in a muddy puddle splashing about outdoors.</p>



<p>&#8220;She&#8217;s a bit of a daredevil &#8211; which can be a little stressful but that&#8217;s all part of why we love her!</p>



<p>Although it will be a relief for both Kelly and Sean when they don&#8217;t have to worry about their daughter&#8217;s every move, they do worry that it will cause a certain amount of separation anxiety for the tot.</p>



<p>&#8220;She loves her tummy so much,&#8221; Kelly said. &#8220;She rubs it in the bath when I take the dressing off to wash her and says &#8216;ah tummy&#8217;.</p>



<p>&#8220;It&#8217;s very cute, and she couldn&#8217;t be prouder of it. But I do worry about how she&#8217;ll react when it&#8217;s not there anymore.&#8221;</p>




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PHOTOS: Little Girl Lives With Stomach, Liver & Bowel Outside Her Body In UK
PHOTOS: Little Girl Lives With Stomach, Liver & Bowel Outside Her Body In UK
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