After a difficult beginning, Elsie is now at home and flourishing (Photo: SWNS).
Mum Katie’s pregnancy was difficult due to persistent excessive hemorrhage caused by a subchorionic hematoma that began in the eighth week of her pregnancy.
Doctors were limited in their ability to assist Katie because they feared that administering medication prior to her 16th week of pregnancy could damage her unborn child.
She was born just 23 weeks gestation (Picture: Katie Hampson / SWNS)
When Elsie was born so prematurely, physicians informed Katie and Rob that their daughter had a one-in-four chance of survival.
Katie, a full-time mother of two from Rochdale, Greater Manchester, remarked, ‘I had no idea if I was going to lose Elsie or not.
I was living with the unknown, so I was unable to unwind or appreciate my pregnancy. Even in the hospital, there was no assurance that she would survive.
After pushing her out, I sat on the bed and gazed at her until I became violently ill.
It was both a jolt and a source of anxiety when we learned that her survival chances were only 25%.
Elsie’s parents were given a 1 in 4 chance of survival (Photo: Katie Hampson / SWNS).
“Her body was the size of Rob’s hand, and the photo of her hand next to her father’s hand doesn’t even convey how small she was; her tiny hand was no larger than his fingernail.”
She was so minuscule, but her eyelashes, fingernails, and toenails were flawlessly formed. She was as petite as a doll.’
Rob, father to Madison, 12, from a previous relationship, and Poppy, 7, daughter of Katie, learned in February 2021 that they were expecting their second child together.
However, only a few weeks into her pregnancy, Katie began to hemorrhage significantly every day.
She was promptly diagnosed with subchorionic hematoma, and consultants at Rochdale Infirmary scanned and monitored her at weekly appointments.
However, she overcame the obstacles and is now enjoying life (Image: SWNS)
During consultations, the risk of Elsie being born prematurely was momentarily raised, but Katie expressed optimism that the subchorionic hemorrhage would resolve themselves, as they do for most women.
Katie was committed to the hospital at 22 weeks gestation due to uncontrollable hemorrhaging, where she went into labor.
Katie’s placental abruption, which occurs when the placenta separates from the interior wall of the uterus prior to birth, complicated her labor.
The anxious parents were unable to hold Elsie after her birth because she was immediately brought to the NICU and connected to a ventilator.
Katie remarked, “Her skin was practically translucent, and she was so petite.”
It was not as it ought to have been. It wasn’t like having a newborn baby; in fact, some people didn’t even congratulate me because they believed I shouldn’t be congratulated for having her so early.
I simply prayed and hoped for the best.
Her parents dub Elsie a ‘miracle’ (Picture: SWNS)
The couple describes Elsie’s upcoming time in the NICU as a “rough ride.”
Katie stated, “We just didn’t know if she was going to make it.”
A nurse even told me that we shared one of the most traumatic experiences she had ever witnessed on the unit.
Elsie was maintained on a ventilator in the NICU for nearly seventy days. In October, she finally regained enough vitality to return home.
Katie expressed her profound gratitude to the hospital personnel for sparing Elsie’s life.
She stated, “The staff are actual angels.”
Elsie wouldn’t be here if it weren’t for them.
They should be recognized for the remarkable work they perform. They saved the life of my infant.
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