A LITTLE CHRISTMAS MIRACLE
MEET HALLIE - THE BABY BORN WEIGHING JUST 1LB WHO HAS DEFIED THE ODDS AND LEFT MEDICS ASTOUNDED:
ROBYN Bryant was 20 weeks pregnant with her first daughter when doctors told her to prepare for the worst.
Scans revealed that the baby was growing very slowly in the womb and was likely to be born with severe abnormalities.
But despite being advised to terminate on several occasions Robyn remained determined to continue with the pregnancy.
“I didn’t know what the outcome was going to be but even if the chances of survival were slim I was going to let nature take its course,” she said. “It was an incredibly scary time.”
Robyn and her partner James Dury, from Treorchy, Rhondda, found out that their unborn daughter Hallie was measuring small at a private gender scan.
“They picked up that Hallie’s femur was a bit short and that she wasn’t growing how she should have been,” said Robyn, 24.
“She was around two weeks behind.”
At the 20-week scan it was discovered that Hallie was measuring even further behind than predicted and Robyn was sent for a number of tests.
But all of them came back clear, leaving the parents worried and confused as to what could be wrong with their unborn baby.
“When we first got told she was small we didn’t realise how serious it could be,” she added.
“I only realised when I went for the foetal medicine appointment that it was likely the baby had an extra chromosome. I was very upset.”
Doctors told her that Hallie was likely to have skeletal dysplasia, the medical term for dwarfism where the arms and legs are short.
She was advised to go for for an amniocentesis, a test to check whether a baby has a genetic or chromosomal condition.
“I knew there was a risk of having a miscarriage with the test so I avoided it at first,” said Robyn who also has a five-year-old son called Oliver. “I kept booking it and cancelling it.”
But after further scans showed that Hallie had a number of complications, including a fused kidney, Robyn decided to go ahead with the test.
“I went to have the test but everything came back clear,” she said.
“I wouldn’t say it was a relief because I would have loved and cared for her no matter what happened. But we just wanted to know what was wrong so we could sort out what care she might have needed.”
For next few weeks Robyn continued to have regular appointments at the University Hospital of Wales in Cardiff to check on Hallie’s progress.
“I lost my dad at that time too so I was a bit of a mess,” she admitted.
“The week before Hallie was delivered she was weighing 490g, with a 20% leeway either side. If she was under 500g at birth the doctors said there was nothing they could have done for her as the equipment would have been too big.”
Robyn was taken back into hospital at 28 weeks, three months before her actual due date on January 8, 2019.
“We were put onto a machine and monitors showed blips in Hallie’s heartbeat so I was taken for an emergency caesarean,” Robyn said.
“They took me up to the delivery suite where they put me on an IV because they thought I was dehydrated but in reality Hallie was in distress.
“I was given so much emotional support before the delivery. I really opened up to the midwife.”
Robyn said she was completely overjoyed when Hallie was brought into the world “crying and screaming” on October 23, 2018, weighing 500g, or 1lb 1oz.
“I just remember crying happy tears. I knew that she wasn’t out of the woods yet but it was a really good sign.
“She was even breathing on her own which the hospital staff just couldn’t believe.”
After having a quick cwtch with her mum, Hallie was taken to the neonatal unit and within weeks she was discharged home weighing a tiny 3lb 3oz.
More than 12 months on from the birth and Hallie is a happy, healthy child who is on the verge of walking.
“All the genetic testing came back clear so she has no abnormalities at all,” added Robyn, who said Hallie’s torrid time in the womb remains a mystery after a test on her placenta came back normal.
“The first week after bringing her home I didn’t sleep at all. I was constantly checking her chest to make sure she was still breathing.
“But now she’s grown so much and she’s doing brilliantly. She’s known as Miss Placid – she’s quite serious but she does have a fun side too.”