A baby who was born two months early has defied the odds – after being so small she had to wear doll’s clothing.
Sienna Townsend, now four, arrived weighing 3lbs 3oz and mum Gemma, 33, had to dress her in clothes for a baby Annabell doll when she came home after six weeks in hospital.
Gemma gave birth to her second premature baby, Amelia, now 15 months, in June 2022, eight weeks early, weighing the exact same as her sister.
She was even told to “say goodbye” after Amelia struggled to recover from a collapsed lung.
Miraculously the tot pulled through after being put in a coma for seven days and spending two months in hospital.
She was able to come home in August 2022 to join her sister, Sienna – and the pair are now both thriving.
Gemma, a support worker, from Cheltenham, Gloucestershire, said: “Both were born early at exactly 31 weeks and three days and 3lbs 1oz each – which is really weird.
"Sienna was so small she has to wear baby Annabell clothes as there was nothing else out there for her.
"They said 'you need to come in a say goodbye' [to Amelia].
“We were told she was dying.
"I couldn't believe she made it.
"Sienna is besotted with her."
Gemma found out she had protein in her urine and was diagnosed with preeclampsia at 28 weeks with Sienna – and was hospitalised up to her birth.
Sienna was born via c-section at Gloucestershire Royal Hospital, Gloucester, on October 31, 2018, at 5.15pm when Gemma’s blood pressure shot up and she was at risk of a seizure.
Gemma and her husband, Jamie Townsend, 36, who works in IT, were scared to hold their daughter as she was so frail.
She said: “It was horrible.
“She was so frail and small.”
The day after giving birth Gemma was diagnosed with HELLP syndrome – a rare liver and blood clotting disorder – and she was kept in hospital for three weeks while she recovered.
Gemma was hardly able to see little Sienna, but after they both recovered, she was able to bring her tiny daughter home - then weighing 4lbs 3oz in December 2018.
Sienna is now a thriving four-year-old who is "nervous and anxious".
When Gemma fell pregnant again with Amelia, she was told to take aspirin to help stop her from developing pre-eclampsia, but she was diagnosed again at 28 weeks.
She said: “It was the exact same, it followed the same pattern.”
Gemma was admitted to Gloucestershire Royal Hospital, in April 2022 and was taken for a c-section in June when her blood pressure got too high.
Little Amelia was born on June 17, 2022, weighing 3lbs 1oz, at 2.20pm, but at three days old doctors noticed her lungs were undeveloped and like that of a 28-week baby.
When Amelia was seven days old, Gemma and Jamie were given a call to say she had taken a turn and told to “say goodbye”.
She said: “The ventilator wasn’t working for her.
“It was so traumatic."
Gemma was told she had a collapsed right lung caused by an over inflated left lung - a pneumothorax - that wasn't healing, and specialist doctors had been called to see if they could save her.
The team managed to arrive in an hour and operated on her in her incubator in the NICU – attempting to stabilise her.
They managed to stabilise her after seven hours, and she was taken in an ambulance to Bristol Royal Hospital for Children.
Her lung was causing a pressure on Amelia’s heart – which was “really serious” – and doctors battled to save her for two weeks, but nothing was working.
They decided to put her in a coma on her left side to get her lung working.
Gemma said: “She became really distorted. Her head was massive.
“She was really uncomfortable looking.
“We were told to prepare for the worst.”
On day seven, her heart started inflating and decreased the pressure on it and doctors were able to wake Amelia up.
Within five days she started getting better and was then moved back to Gloucestershire Royal Hospital.
Gemma said: “We couldn’t believe it.”
Amelia came home without oxygen in August 2022, and is going from strength to strength but is very behind on her milestones – and has only just started crawling.
Her parents don’t yet know what the impact of her NICU stay will have on her but hope she can walk.
Gemma said: “She’s so fierce.
“She has incredible strength.
“She’s determined – that’s what got her through.”
For both her daughters, Gemma used donor milk, which she is very thankful for her - and they are both thriving.
