A mother whose baby was delivered three months early and weighed less than a jar of marmite is recording the tiny ɪɴғᴀɴᴛ’s sᴛʀᴜɢɢʟᴇ for survival on Iɴsᴛᴀɢʀᴀᴍ.
Stephanie Banman gave birth at just 27 weeks to tiny Hailey. Weighing just 1lb 2oz (524g), Hailey was immediately taken to ɴᴇᴏɴᴀᴛᴀʟ ɪɴᴛᴇɴsɪᴠᴇ care, where she remains to this day. She has undergone a lengthy string of treatments, including being incubated when her right lung collapsed and pumped full of sᴛᴇʀᴏɪᴅs to aid her growth. But she defied the odds – and is now giving hope to other parents of ᴘʀᴇᴍᴀᴛᴜʀᴇ babies via the social media site. Overall, she is doing well, steadily gaining weight, and now able to breathe independently.
Stephanie said: “Hailey is very strong, which helps me be strong too.
“She’s becoming quite the little diva and handles all her tests and procedures very well.
“At first, I documented her progress online to keep family and friends updated, as we aren’t allowed many visitors. Then I realized a lot of parents are going through similar experiences and I felt this was a way to give them hope.”
Stephanie, a maid from British Columbia, Canada, had two ᴘʀᴇᴠɪᴏᴜs ʟᴏssᴇs ᴀɴᴅ ᴡᴀs ᴍᴇᴛɪᴄᴜʟᴏᴜsʟʏ followed during her pregnancy. During her 18-week ᴜʟᴛʀᴀsᴏᴜɴᴅ, however, physicians noticed that her baby was two weeks off schedule in terms of growth.
Stephanie, 20, and her partner Tyler Lacey, 24, were sent to the University of Alberta Hospital for a second opinion. There, doctors ᴅɪᴀɢɴᴏsᴇᴅ their unborn baby with Intrauterine Growth Restriction (IUGR) – the poor growth of a fetus inside the ᴡᴏᴍʙ.
“I was told it was nothing I’d done wrong,” said Stephanie. “I’d been eating healthily and taking all the vitamins I was told to, but there was nothing that could have prevented this.
“The placenta just wasn’t doing its job delivering nutrients to my baby.”
From there, Stephanie returned to the hospital for weekly ᴜʟᴛʀᴀsᴏᴜɴᴅs.
Hᴇᴀʀᴛʙʀᴇᴀᴋɪɴɢʟʏ, after each one, doctors cautioned her that her daughter may have ᴅɪᴇᴅ by the next appointment. Stephanie added: “Nobody wants to be told that their child might not sᴜʀᴠɪᴠᴇ.
“It was very hard to take, but I kind of knew that she would be okay because I felt her move a lot.”
Doctors discovered the ғʟᴜɪᴅ surrounding Stephanie’s unborn kid had substantially decreased and the ʙʟᴏᴏᴅ ғʟᴏᴡ had ᴅᴇᴛᴇʀɪᴏʀᴀᴛᴇᴅ during a 27-week scan in July. She stayed in the hospital for the following few days, getting daily sᴛᴇʀᴏɪᴅs. While Hailey’s ʙʟᴏᴏᴅ ғʟᴏᴡ improved, the ғʟᴜɪᴅ surrounding her continued to drain away until only a little pocket remained. Doctors decided to operate when the baby’s heart rate dropped.
On July 16, 2016, Stephanie Hailey was born through a C-Sᴇᴄᴛɪᴏɴ. She recalled: “Hailey came out crying and breathing, which nobody expected.
“It was really amazing seeing her for the first time. I didn’t think someone so small and fragile would be able to live outside the womb.”
Doctors estimate she will be able to come home around mid-October – which would have been her due date, had she been carried to full term.
“It could be sooner or later, it just depends on how everything goes,” said Stephanie.
“In ɴᴇᴏɴᴀᴛᴀʟ ɪɴᴛᴇɴsɪᴠᴇ care, every day is a new day and nothing is guaranteed.
“But Hailey is very ғᴇɪsᴛʏ. She is a miracle.”
