A little girl who doctors said "very little chance of survival" after she was born 17 days after her stillborn twin has celebrated her first birthday. Lexie Sienna Bryant lived in her mother's womb for two weeks after her brother, Kobi Nathaniel, died. She was then born prematurely at 23 weeks weighing just 1lbs 5oz. Before her arrival, doctors had already warned mum Gemma Bryant she would likely give birth to her within days of Kobi, who was born at 21 weeks. However the staff at Hull Women and Children's Hospital were amazed as it was a further 17 days before Mrs Bryant, 35, went into labour for a second time which gave Lexie a much better chance. After spending 100 days in the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU), Lexie was allowed to go home with oxygen and a feeding tube and has now turned one.
She is still under a specialist about her eyesight as she is short-sighted and will need glasses by the age of three, but otherwise, she is doing great."Even the physiotherapist hasn’t had to help her in any way as she is progressing well on her own, she really is a miracle."We are so proud of her every day she is so very precious to us.
She rolls over and is still learning to sit up but it is to be expected that she will need more time to meet her goals, but otherwise doing us all proud."The twins were due to be born in May 2018, but Mrs Bryant's waters broke the day before she was due to go for her 20-week scan. The mum, who, along with husband James, has five sons between them, knew it was too early for her twins to be born and was told to prepare for losing them both.
It was eight days later, on Christmas Eve when she went into full labour and Kobi was tragically born sleeping with lungs too underdeveloped to be saved. After Lexie was born in January, she was rushed to NICU and she was 20 days old before her parents could give her the first cuddle. At the time, heartbroken Gemma spoke of a 'bittersweet rollercoaster of emotions' after the pain of losing her son followed by the joy of giving birth to baby Lexie. Mrs Bryant said celebrating Lexie's first birthday has been "amazing." She said: "Her birthday was amazing, it was such a happy day for us all we feel so lucky to be celebrating her special day, time really has flown past since her being born."We will be forever thankful for what the Nicu staff did for her and us."