With three young children, life is busy for Samantha Smithies, but she wouldn’t have it any other way.
Little Harmony, six, three-year-old Harrison, and Ellie, one, fill Samantha’s day with chaos and the family are currently enjoying the summer holidays in Peterhead.
But once the children are in bed and Samantha has tackled a long list of household chores, she lies awake and tries to reach out to people who suffer from the same rare condition which she was diagnosed with last year.
Samantha was rushed to Aberdeen Royal Infirmary when she was five months pregnant with Ellie, and suffering excruciating pain.
Doctors initially believed she had gall bladder stones, and told Samantha she could risk losing Ellie through premature delivery, or continue with her pregnancy and put up with the pain.
But an ultrasound on her abdomen revealed that Samantha is just one out of 10,000 people to suffer from Situs Inversus Abdominalis.
The condition means her stomach is in the opposite side of her body, along with her abdominal organs, kidneys, liver, pancreas, and appendix.
Her spleen is also lower than usual.
Although Samantha suffered from a heart condition when she was a child, the condition was not picked up and not even her mum initially believed her.
“To be diagnosed with such a rare condition when I was only 22 years old was such a massive shock, I couldn’t get my head round it,” she said.
“I remember mum coming into the ward and I told her my organs were back to front, she thought I was joking.
“It wasn’t until she spoke to doctors that it really sunk in.
“I was terrified as to how it would impact on the pregnancy, because I’d already had a very difficult birth with Harrison.
“I just kept asking why this hadn’t been picked up when I was younger but scans were only ever carried out on my chest, not my stomach.
“I remember medical students laughing when the doctor explained I was back to front, I didn’t know how to feel.”
Samantha’s family has already experienced an incredible amount of heartache, after her brother, 15-year-old Cameron, died in a cliff top fall four years ago.
She has perhaps drawn on her parents’ strength however and now has two mums – after Justine and Julie Smithies revealed their transgender love story.
“This family has already suffered enough and I think that’s why Harmony is very mature for her age and knows everything about my condition,” said Samantha.
“My family are an amazing support and Harmony knows just what to do if something happens.”
Samantha’s condition means she is more vulnerable to pancreatitis and appendicitis.
If she is involved in an accident and medics are unaware of her condition, their intervention could also be deadly.
“I wear a medical bracelet 24/7, and there is information about my condition on the home page of my phone,” she said.
“If I needed emergency surgery, it is vital doctors know that my organs are in different places from other people.
“My organs can become squeezed but I’ve taught Harmony to ring my mum if I suddenly feel poorly.
“What scares me is that I went so long without having a clue, even when Harrison was delivered by C-section.
“Now I have to be a lot more careful and I just want to find somebody who is in the same shoes as me.
“I want to raise awareness because when consultants first told me about the condition, I had no idea what they were talking about.
“Harrison has been screened but the girls haven’t, and it terrifies me that they may have it because I am obviously a carrier.
“I’ve only found one other person with the condition via Twitter, and they live in America.
“It is usually discovered in babies and children.
“I feel very alone and people tend to treat me differently because they don’t understand how my organs can be on the wrong side of my body.
“I was on antibiotics for quite a long time when I was first diagnosed, but I’ve been told to live my life as normal.
“There are days when I want to curl up on the sofa, particularly if infection takes hold and very often doctors can’t quite pinpoint where it is coming from.
“For the most part I try to keep going, I’m so busy with the kids so I don’t have time to dwell on things.
“I want people to know about this condition though, and I hope I can meet other people who are going through the same experience.”
You can contact Samantha via Facebook or Twitter.