By Dave Andrusko
Photo credit: Tom Wren SWNS.com
By definition, when a micropreemie survives and thrives it is a miracle. The hurdles and obstacles and potential problems are mind-boggling.
But even by that arduous standard, Layla Daly’s arrival home in time for Christmas after 115 days in the hospital is jaw-dropping.
It’s not just that she was born three months premature weighing a tiny 1 pound, nine ounces. Or that doctors told parents Vicky Russell and Scott Daly that Russell should undergo a late term abortion because her unborn daughter had a fatal liver problem.
Once her parents said a firm no, Layla was delivered by emergency C-Section on July 28. Doctors told the couple that Layla (born at 26 weeks) was “so undeveloped, she might not survive.”
At three weeks old, she contracted “a life-threatening infection necrotising enterocolitis (NEC) which caused part of her bowel to die,” according to the Daily Mail’s Charlie Moore. She underwent emergency surgery and along the way Layla endured 11 blood transfusions.
And then, after surviving all that, Layla contracted a deadly infection sepsis!
But Layla is an amazing child. The baby born smaller than her dad’s had was discharged November 21 in time for the holiday season.
“’I was so excited to have her home but at the same time petrified as for the last three months she had been hooked up to monitors,” Russell told Moore. “’I was scared I wouldn’t know if she was OK without them.”
‘After a long time in hospital you sort of rely on the monitors to tell you when there is something wrong with your baby. You get used to them, so I was a bit freaked out when she didn’t have them. But I’ve calmed down a lot now and I just need to trust my instincts.
So what’s planned? “We plan to have a quiet family Christmas - just the three of us and our dog,” Russell said. “We plan on starting a family tradition and going for a nice walk every Christmas morning.”