Docs Dismiss Newborn’s ‘Grunting’ as ‘Normal Baby Sounds’. Now She’s Been Waiting 200 Days for a New Heart

Doctors initially dismissed a newborn’s “grunting” as typical baby sounds — but just six weeks later, the infant was intubated in the PICU and is now waiting for a heart transplant.

Stephanie Mulhall-Atkinson, 37, and Justin Atkinson, 33, welcomed their daughter Sloane in October 2024. The Canadian couple grew increasingly concerned about the noises she was making and repeatedly alerted hospital staff.

“We raised concern to many different doctors and nurses while we were in the hospital for five days post-birth, including the pediatrician,” Stephanie told Daily Mail. “They all said that her lungs sounded clear, so she was fine, and that she was just a vocal baby making normal baby sounds.”

When the family brought Sloane home, the grunting continued — and Stephanie says her daughter soon showed additional symptoms. She became unusually fussy and was often sweaty. On November 30, when Sloane was about six and a half weeks old, she developed a faint blue tint around her mouth and stopped feeding. The parents rushed her to the emergency room.

“At the hospital, Sloane was making her grunting noises. As soon as the doctors heard them, they asked if she had always done that,” Stephanie recalled. She explained that medical staff had previously reassured them the noises were harmless. “We were then told that it actually is a sign of distress and not normal at all. Everything escalated from there.”

A scan revealed that Sloane had dilated cardiomyopathy, a heart muscle disease that causes the heart chambers to enlarge, making it difficult to pump blood effectively. According to the Mayo Clinic, this condition is a common cause of heart failure.

Sloane was in end-stage heart failure and urgently needed a heart transplant to survive. “Her heart is barely pumping,” Stephanie said. “She was rushed up to the PICU, sedated and intubated immediately.”

“There are no words to describe those first acute days and weeks and hearing that your tiny baby needs a heart transplant. Your brain cannot comprehend that,” Stephanie shared.

“How do you even begin to process it except by holding onto all the hope? Our girl will be okay. She has to be. Her life will be long, full, and beautiful. We know it,” Stephanie wrote in a GoFundMe set up to help cover Sloane’s medical care. “This will be her story to tell one day.”

The family says they were “devastated and angry” to realize that their daughter’s grunting had been a sign of distress all along.

Sloane has remained hospitalized ever since. As Stephanie updated on the GoFundMe page, she is currently number 193 on the transplant list.

“Every time we see certain nurses and doctors we wonder, holding our breath, hoping it’s Sloane’s time. We know it will come… it could still be today or a year from now,” Stephanie wrote. “One day it WILL happen.”