TINY TOT SIZE OF DAD’S FINGERNAIL
Premature baby’s incredibly small hand
A BABY born at just 23 weeks was so tiny, her hand was the same size as her dad’s fingernail.
Little Elsie, now 10 months, weighed just 1lb 1oz when she arrived 17 weeks early. Doctors told parents Katie and Rob Hampson the tot had a one-in-four chance of survival. Katie, 27, a full-time mum, said: “Her body was the size of Rob’s hand and her little hand was no bigger than his fingernail.
“She was so tiny but perfectly formed with her little eyelashes, fingernails and toenails. She was like a little doll.”
The pregnancy had been fraught with worry after Katie suffered a heavy bleeding from the eighth week. The mum of two said: “It was horrific as I just didn’t know if I was going to lose Elsie. I was living with the unknown.
“I couldn’t relax or enjoy my pregnancy and even in hospital there was no guarantee she would be alive.”
After a natural birth last June, Elsie was kept on a ventilator for nearly 70 days in the NICU at Royal Oldham Hospital.
Katie took the photo of her “highfiving” her builder dad, 32.
She said: “I had to wait nearly five hours to see Elsie in the incubator. When I eventually did, I was in shock. I didn’t get to hold her. “I was so nervous and didn’t know whether she would survive. Her skin was practically seethrough, and she was so small.” But nearly five months after she was born, Elsie finally gained enough strength to return home for the first time. She now weighs a healthier 13lb 6oz.
Katie, from Rochdale, Lancs, said: “She’s a little miracle, she’s overcome so much.
“Not even the doctors or nurses had hopes that she would survive, but she’s a little fighter. We’re so proud.” She added of the staff at Royal Oldham: “They are real-life angels. “They should be recognised for the amazing job they do. They saved my baby’s life.”