A baby born 4 months prematurely and weighing less than 11 ounces has made a remarkable recovery and now she’s finally home.
Watson Jean Breeden was the smallest preemie ever born at Baylor University Medical Center in Dallas, the hospital said.
Her mom and dad Lacey and Wynne Breeden got to take Watson, their only child, home for the very first time last Tuesday.
“It was sort of a surreal feeling and overwhelming joy,” Lacey Breeden, 31, told TODAY.
“It’s been amazing,” she added. “Today is the first day we spent as a family not inside the hospital. It was so great to wake up this morning and have her next to us and be able to love on her and hold her and feed her and nurture her.”
Her husband agreed: “It’s great having the whole family experience at home, and getting to hold her whenever you want,” Wynne, also 31, said. “Basically, being able to live the normal life we all pictured when we decided to have a baby. It’s a wonderful feeling.”
The hospital staff said that Watson’s story is truly a miraculous one. Lacey had life-threatening HELLP syndrome during her pregnancy, which is a rare but serious condition characterized by a rapid spike in blood pressure, and Watson was born 4 months before her due date, on Oct. 29, 2016.
The baby spent 6 months at the hospital, in an incubator and hooked up to oxygen tubes. She had to undergo multiple surgeries.
The Breedens, who live about 35 minutes away in Terrell, Texas, rented a house nearby the hospital so they could see their daughter every day.
“When you’re in a NICU situation, they tell you in the beginning it’s going to be a roller coaster situation,” Lacey said. “But you really don’t process that… for me, I hit a wall halfway through. How much more can I take? How much more can a mother take? But I think our faith got us through those dark days of not knowing whether she was going to survive. Just trying to get through an hour at a time.”
“I guess you could call it a dark time for our family,” Lacey said.
This week however, Watson was finally ready to go home weighing close to 8 pounds.
“It’s been a whole book of miracles, really,” Wynne said. “It just makes you sit back and appreciate what you really have.”