The tennis ball baby... 2 years on
Mum Hannah McSween gazes at her daughter Poppy as she plays happily in the sunshine with her toy bunny.
That cuddly rabbit has been with her for every day of the two and a half years she has battled for survival.
Each time Hannah sees the little white toy her heart feels like it could burst. Because when she bought the bunny it was for an altogether more tragic reason – so Poppy would never be alone in her coffin.
“I look at her now and think, if I didn’t follow my intuition she wouldn’t be here. Every year instead of celebrating her birthday, I’d be mourning her,” Hannah says.
Poppy was born on March
9, 2017, by emergency caesarean at 25 weeks – one week past the abortion limit – and doctors told her devastated parents she probably wouldn’t survive.
She weighed just 12 ounces and was the same size as a tennis ball, making her one of the tiniest babies in the UK.
But incredible Poppy has beaten the odds and is thriving at home after finally being discharged from Southmead Hospital in Bristol for the first time in her life.
“Going from being one of the tiniest babies born to being this strong and intelligent girl is amazing,” says 33-year-old Hannah, from Chepstow, South Wales.
“I had mixed emotions when we were told she was going to be discharged. The people we met on the newborn intensive care unit were like part of the family in a way.
“It was very sad leaving the friends I’ve met there – but it feels amazing to have her home for good.
“Although it’s been a bit scary, being able to teach her everything ourselves and seeing her flourish without having constant checks is amazing.
“It does make me scared that no one is there to constantly watch over us, but even in the last two weeks she’s come along amazingly – she’s catching up so quickly.
“I can’t wait to finally start her life properly and teach her to do everything by ourselves.”
It is hopefully the beginning of the end of a long road for the family, which began 18 weeks into the pregnancy when Hannah and her husband Steve, also 33, were warned their baby would not live. One day they were taken into a small room and told Poppy wasn’t growing.
“I knew it was bad news because there was a box of tissues on the table,” she recalls. “All along we were told, ‘She’s not going to be alive at the next scan. The likelihood of you having a IN THE PINK Tiny but smiling positive outcome to this pregnancy is very slim’.” Doctors explained their unborn baby suffered from foetal growth restriction and Hannah says that they were advised to terminate.
“We were told that we’d be better terminating the pregnancy as if not I’d have to go through labour to have a stillborn baby,” she says.
In that dark time, the heartbroken couple thought about plans for their little girl’s death. But they were determined not to give up and, despite advice from consultants and doctors, decided to continue with the pregnancy. Hannah says: “Our consultants kept telling us before every scan that she wouldn’t be alive for the next one, and every time she was.
“I couldn’t give up on her because then I wouldn’t have her in my life. At the time I thought, if I don’t give up on her, the likelihood is that I won’t have her anyway. But there is this small chance it will pay off. And it did.”
Hannah recalls the day Poppy finally arrived, saying: “When they said they had to deliver, I burst into tears. That’s when it hit me, ‘She’s either going to make it or not’.”
They were told the hospital medical equipment to save Poppy’s life after birth was too big for her and they wouldn’t be able to help her. But day by day, Poppy defied the odds and her strength grew. Hannah says she now barely remembers “that dark time”. “I was just wrapped up in a bubble,” she admits. “I just got on with things, taking her brother to school, going in and out of hospital. It became everyday life.”
Now, however, Poppy is enjoying her newfound freedom playing catch with her two big brothers, seven-year-old Oliver and six-year-old Oli.
“It’s so funny, she loves that tennis ball,” Hannah says. “She even grabs fruit from the bowl and tries to throw it because she thinks it’s a ball.”
As the family settle into their new normal life, Hannah says: “She’s still very small and wears nine to 12-month-old clothes, but the fact she’s still here and doing so well is all that matters. Thinking about the fact we were told to abort her breaks my heart, but also makes me so happy that we took the risk.
“She looked so tiny in her incubator when her arms and legs were all curled up, we compared her to a tennis ball. That’s how
mall she looked. I used to have to ring p the unit every night to check in on er to say goodnight.
“Now I go into her room every night myself to check on her. “Poppy really is our miracle baby. he’s just fought and fought and fought gainst all the odds. But she’s made it. “Poppy is truly getting better each ay – every time we are told she won’t e able to do something or won’t reach milestone she absolutely smashes it.” Poppy is just beginning to speak, which fills her mum with pride. “Her first word was ‘Mummy’. It was incredible. Now she is talking more and more each day. “Whenever we see a dog she has to stop and point to say, ‘woof woof !’. She took her first steps in January as well, which was just amazing. She is such a determined little girl. If she can’t do something, she gets frustrated but will keep going until she’s got it.”
It has been three weeks since Poppy was officially discharged and her future looks bright.
Hannah says: “We are working at getting her up to speed with her speaking and physical activity, so we spend every day teaching her words and activities.
“Although she’s behind, we’re certain she’s going to catch up and we’ve been told that she won’t need help when she starts school as she’s expected to catch up quickly.”
Doctors have told Hannah there is no reason why Poppy can’t go on to live a normal and healthy life – news she thought would never come.
“She really is like any other normal little girl. She is such a girly girl and loves wearing pink bows in her hair and playing with her toys. I’m just so over the moon that we stuck to our decision and decided not to terminate our pregnancy as I can’t imagine life without Poppy. It was a risk that I was willing to take and one that massively paid off – I hope our story proves to other expectant mothers that there is hope.”
Poppy really is our miracle baby. She’s just fought HANNAH MCSWEEN ON DAUGHTER’S SURVIVAL