Mischa Hand (27) can hardly believe that she has brought her little daughter home. 17-month-old Amaya-Mae came into the world after just 23 weeks in her mother’s womb.
Dreaming of living again
After the birth, she was in the hospital for a total of 360 days. But look at her now!
– Someone must have looked after her a little extra. Because this is a real miracle, says mum Mischa.
ON THE DUE DATE: Here Amaya is photographed on the day she was actually born. Then she had been on the outside of her mother’s stomach for four months! Photo: Caters News Agency
sea view
Abrupt end
Misha and Jamie, from Crawley in West Sussex, England, had been trying to conceive for a year when the test finally came back positive. Everything was normal, until suddenly it wasn’t. After 23 weeks, Mischa had a stomach ache, and it turned out that labor was in progress.
Jamie drove the straight road to the hospital, where an attempt was made to stop the birth – without success.
– The doctor said he was very sorry, but the baby wanted out. He asked if we wanted to listen to the heartbeat one last time, in case the baby didn’t survive, but I declined, says Mischa.
Danny (36) gave birth to his own child
She tried to prepare herself for the fact that the baby could not be saved.
– As soon as she was out, she was rushed off to the intensive care unit. I found out that she was breathing, but I didn’t think I would be able to hold her while she was alive, says Mischa.
Long journey
Amaya weighed 680 grams and was clinging to life. Day after day.
When she was two weeks old, she was considered stable enough to be moved to a hospital with better equipment, but in the ambulance she suffered a brain hemorrhage and lung problems.
Potato chips have ruined my life
But she survived.
The young parents lived an hour away from this new hospital, but they traveled to her every single day. One evening when they had just returned home, they were called and asked to come back at once.
– We hurried, terrified that we wouldn’t catch her. But when we arrived, she was stable again, says Mischa.
Eventually they were allowed to move into a house for relatives near the hospital, a Ronald McDonald house, so that they could be with their daughter at short notice.
Have to go on your hands: – A lot of backbiting
More operations
Amaya continued to cling to life, but the next 11 months were not without challenges.
Among other things, there was a hole in her intestine, and she had to remove ten centimeters of it. Amaya also got blood poisoning, and had to get stents in the blood vessels to the heart.
CONSTANT VICTORY: In the beginning, the little baby had to be shielded from sound and light. But here she has become so big that she can lie in a regular incubator. Photo: Caters News Agency
sea view
At one point, the parents were offered to move her to the palliative ward, where only pain relief is provided, but now Mischa was convinced that her daughter would live.
Eventually, Amaya was moved to Evelina London Children’s Hospital. And here she got to greet a very special person.
Princess Kate (41) is the hospital’s high patron, and she stopped by to greet patients.
WARM HEART: Princess Kate is the patron of the hospital where Amaya was – and she would like to greet the little girl who was born so far too early. Photo: Caters News Agency
sea view
– There was no press, no bodyguards, she just popped in to greet the children. She was just so incredibly sweet, says Mischa.
Today Amaya is finally home. She is not as strong as her peers, and has some underlying illnesses.
– But I bet she will handle them. She’s gotten so big! And she is such a cheerful and happy little girl. It is impossible to look at her what she has been through, says the proud mother.
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