Miracle baby Ella-Rose is a beacon of hope

As she enjoyed Mother’s Day breakfast in bed with husband Brian and daughter Ella-Rose, Ballina woman Denise Geddes-Ward reflected on how unlikely motherhood often seemed.

She was 40 in 2021 when she met Donegal man Brian Ward and had reckoned her chances of being a mother were at an end. But the couple fell head over heels in love and decided they wanted to try.

Success was anything but straightforward with a fraught journey down the IVF route and serious complications for Ella Rose when she was born so Mother’s Day is particularly significant.

“Mother’s Day was magic for me,” Denise told the Western People. “We had breakfast in bed, the three of us, eating croissants and watching a cartoon movie about Trouble the dog. I was looking at Brian saying ‘isn’t this just the best way to spend Sunday morning?’ 

"I feel like I was born to be a mammy to be honest. It is just the best feeling in the world. Not a day goes by that I don’t realise how lucky we are to have Ella Rose,” she added.

Denise had spent her whole working life working with children in care and was also a foster mum but aged 40 in 2021, was beginning to think being a mum herself was beyond her until she met Brian.

“I had long since given up on the idea of becoming a mam. When I met Brian, it was love at first sight. I know that sounds cheesy but for me, anyway, it was true. Brian was recently separated and had always wanted to be a dad and suddenly, this was a dream for both of us that we wanted to explore. Immediately, we were met with obstacles. My age was an issue, but I also had endometriosis and polycystic ovaries. We were told that we could not conceive naturally,” she said.

So in early 2022, they began fertility treatments, including in vitro fertilisation (IVF) and intrauterine insemination (IUI) in Galway. Several procedures were unsuccessful while Denise also had repeated miscarriages.

“It was an emotional rollercoaster for us both, going through cycles of grief and devastation month on month but at the same time trying to remain hopeful,” she said. 

She also had to cope with considerable side-effects of hormone treatments.

In November 2022, they reached what Denise described as a ‘turning-point’ in their journey, meeting Dr Ravi Garrib in Sligo University Hospital. Immediately, Denise trusted him, and he performed surgery in 2023 to treat her endometriosis and other issues.

After further treatment in Galway, Sligo and Prague, Denise became pregnant with Ella-Rose in July 2024. 

But that was only the beginning.

“My entire pregnancy was fraught with anxiety and my first 16 weeks of pregnancy were spent in and out of the hospital for prolonged periods,” she recalled. 

Severe morning sickness, gestational diabetes, bleeding and migraines made the pregnancy extremely difficult. She had to have an operation to relieve the migraines after 12 weeks.

“We will never forget when we first saw Ella Rose in a scan and heard her heartbeat. As time went on, the baby was developing well, and my body was learning how to cope with the pregnancy,” said Denise.

Ella-Rose was born on March 3, 2025 at 9.27am by C-section but within minutes, she stopped breathing. A paediatric team rushed in and stabilised her, before bringing her to the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit.

While all that was going on, Denise herself was far from out of the woods. She had lost a lot of blood and had other complications too but Dr Garrib and his team got on top of any issues immediately.

The paediatric team were concerned with Ella-Rose’s heart though and when she was just three days old, she was brought to Our Lady’s Hospital for Sick Children in Crumlin by ambulance for investigation. There she was diagnosed with Tetralogy of Fallot, a rare congenital heart defect involving four structural abnormalities that affect blood flow through the heart.

She was released back to Sligo hospital where, at just five days old, she was baptised with her parents and both sets of grandparents, who Denise said were a tremendous support, watching on.

Denise and Brian were told their daughter would need at least one full open-heart repair surgery and cardiac care for the rest of her life.

The big challenge now was getting her big and strong enough for the first surgery in Crumlin, which would take place on June 17.

Ultimately, the surgery was successful but it was an unimaginable ordeal for her parents watching their little baby have to go through such a major, invasive surgery at just three months old.

“The surgery is a blur and the most difficult time in my life. The day of her surgery was the longest day of our lives, thankfully the team in Crumlin were updating us every couple of hours. She had fallen asleep in my arms at 12pm in theatre. We did not see her until ten hours later. I didn’t recognise my daughter.

“Another moment that sticks out was when they were reducing her sedation three days after her surgery and she was trying to cry, it broke my heart when no sound came out due to the ventilator.

“Thankfully we got home after two weeks, and she is doing so well since, thriving. While she will always be monitored by cardiology, no further surgeries are expected until she is a teen,” explained Denise.

Fast forward to Valentine’s Day 2026, just a few weeks short of Ella Rose’s first birthday and Brian and Denise’s wedding day at the Ocean Sands Hotel in Enniscrone.

It was a fitting day to celebrate not just a marriage, but the family of three. Ella-Rose Ward was the star of the show.

As flower girl, she arrived in a remote-controlled children’s Mercedes convertible. Family and friends, aware of everything her parents had endured, watched on adoringly.

With perfect timing, Ella-Rose returned their applause as she approached the top of the aisle.

“We had such a great day in the Ocean Sands. Our ceremony was very family-focused and personal to us, including a poem I had written for Ella-Rose.” 

Her message to other couples experiencing difficulties conceiving is as follows:

“Don’t give up, it’s worth it in the end and believe in miracles. I know every parent thinks their baby is special, and they are, but there is just something about Ella Rose, everyone just adores her. She is a really happy, go-lucky baby.”