A baby born weighing less than a loaf of bread and given only a 10 percent chance of survival is thriving now and has celebrated her first birthday.
Lauren Ormston, 27, from Hartley Wintney, Hampshire, in southeast England found out that she and her fiance, truck driver Oliver Dewey, 32 were expecting their first child on Nov. 2, 2021, with Lauren having a really smooth pregnancy thereafter.
All her scans came back healthy and she was expected to welcome little Isla on July 12, 2022. However, on March 3, 2022, the expectant mother began to get severe pains in her abdomen and decided to get it checked.
She called the triage nurse three times that night and ended up going to Frimley Park Hospital, Camberley, Surrey, for tests.
When Lauren arrived there the next day, doctors informed her she was in labor and gave the baby a 10 percent chance of survival.
After being blue-lighted to St Peter’s Hospital with Oliver, Lauren was induced at 7:30 p.m. Almost two hours later, at 9.17 p.m., Lauren gave birth to Isla who weighed just 1.17 pounds (535 grams).
“The birth was easy, and I only had gas and air,” Lauren said.
However, the hard part began immediately after the birth of Isla, as she was rushed to the neonatal unit and ventilated. The little girl was unable to breathe without assistance.
“I could only cuddle Isla for six minutes before she was taken,” Lauren said. ''She looked so small and fragile like she would snap at the slightest bit of movement.”
Since her skin was transparent, her parents could see each and every little vein within her body.
Isla was diagnosed with a level two bleed on the brain and a hole in the heart.
“I lived each day, never knowing if she would make it, day by day, hour by hour, minute by minute,” Lauren said.
After six weeks, Isla was taken off the ventilator and began to use an oxygen mask instead. This time her parents could properly cuddle their tiny newborn without tubes getting in the way.
At two months old, Isla lost vision in her right eye after her retina detached, and surgery to fix it was unsuccessful.
The little girl continued to fight for her life and on July 12, after 130 days in the hospital, she had grown to weigh 8.8 pounds (4 kilograms) and could finally go home with her parents.
In March 2023, the family celebrated Isla’s first birthday, a milestone they feared she would never reach.
Now weighing just over 15.4 pounds (7 kilograms), little Isla can sit unaided, is trying to crawl, and can even stand up with some assistance.
While she may still wear clothes that are meant for kids who are three to six months old, she is unrecognizable from her tiny, frail newborn self.
She now wears regular nappies that dwarf her newborn nappies, which were so small they could sit in the palm of your hand.
From weighing less than a loaf of bread, she has come a long way and her parents can’t be more proud.
“Looking at her now, you wouldn’t know she was premature,” Lauren said. “She’s a proper little madam now, she’s got her own personality, and is the most independent little girl ever.”
Since giving birth to Isla, the couple has learned not to take anything for granted.
“[W]e live for each day because you don’t know what’s around the corner,” Lauren said. “We are just grateful for what we have, so grateful she was strong enough to defeat the odds and prove everyone wrong.”
When Isla grows older, Lauren said she would like to share the experience with her so she knows how special she is.
