A premature baby girl, born weighing barely a pound and a half and who spent the first year of her life in the hospital, finally got to go home on her first birthday.
Baby Isla was born almost three months early to parents Leah and Eric Johnson. Leah struggled with pre-eclampsia, a condition that can cause serious complications during pregnancy, early in her pregnancy, so was aware that her baby might be born prematurely.
“We knew she would probably be early”, Leah said, “so we were prepped for all of the things that come with a premature baby”. However, Isla’s parents were unaware of just how difficult things would be.
“Her lungs were not developed, but we had no idea she would have anything else going on. It was a couple weeks, and then we realised her lung, just one of her lungs, was hyperinflated”, Leah said.
Isla had a rare lung condition called congenital lobar emphysema, in which an obstruction of the airways leads to an enlarged, overinflated lobe or lobes of the lung. Before she was even two months old, baby Isla had to undergo surgery to remove part of her lung.
Things remained difficult after the surgery. “You would think after that was out of the way, we were kind of out of the woods, and that was how we felt, but that’s not really what happened because her lungs were so premature”, Leah said. “She now has BPD, bronchopulmonary dysplasia”.
“It’s scary, but it’s really helpful to be here in this setting with all the nurses around you at all times explaining things to you; it kind of helps you through it”, Leah added.
“They’ve been great; they’ve been really good”, Leah said. “They’ve helped us through the past year. It’s been pretty difficult”.
Isla’s parents knew that her condition would improve when she was ready, saying that she was on “Isla time”.
“She has her own timeline”, Leah said. “Whatever you think she’s going to do, she’ll probably do the opposite”.
The timing lined up perfectly and, on Isla’s first birthday, the staff at the neonatal intensive care unit lined up along the corridors to say goodbye to Isla and her family, as they went home together for the first time.
Spokesperson for Right To Life UK, Catherine Robinson, said “It is heartening to hear such a heartwarming story about how baby Isla has beaten the odds and made it home after a year”.
“Premature babies like Isla are a reminder of the incredible strength and resilience of babies born at the very edge of viability. Her life is a powerful witness to the value of every child, no matter how small or how early they are born”.
