When 1lb and 2oz Ava-May Horner was born, doctors Fᴇᴀʀᴇᴅ she wouldn’t survive. Just weeks after celebrating her 16th birthday, Mum Charley Hopper went into labor at 22 weeks and difficult pregnancy ᴘᴀssᴇᴅ as a whirlwind.
The teenager explained her difficult pregnancy ᴘᴀssᴇᴅ as a whirlwind, saying: “One day we went from thinking I can’t wait for these 18-weeks to be over, then the next thing I was in hospital.” Then one week and three days later, she naturally gave birth to her 540 gram baby on July 2. She needed round the clock care and spent the first 129 days of her life in hospital as she ʙʀᴀᴠᴇʟʏ ʙᴀᴛᴛʟᴇᴅ a ᴄᴏʟʟᴀᴘsᴇᴅ ʟᴜɴɢ, ᴘɴᴇᴜᴍᴏɴɪᴀ and ʜᴇᴀʀᴛ sᴜʀɢᴇʀʏ. Charley, from Pallister Park, said: “Ava needed ʙʀᴇᴀᴛʜɪɴɢ support as soon as she was born, ʜᴇᴀᴛ support as she couldn’t maintain her temperature and need feeding support when she could have milk.”
The youngster is still on ᴏxʏɢᴇɴ but is growing stronger by the day. And Charley, 17, is now preparing for the first birthday she Fᴇᴀʀᴇᴅ her daughter would never see. They didn’t think she would survive. It was so hard because they basically gave ᴜs 24-hours and it was either hit or miss. They said she’d either take to the machine ʙʀᴇᴀᴛʜɪɴɢ for her but if she didn’t her ʟᴜɴɢs would ᴄᴏʟʟᴀᴘsᴇ. One of her ʟᴜɴɢs did actually ᴄᴏʟʟᴀᴘsᴇ, but the other one was still ᴡᴏʀᴋɪɴɢ, when she was about five days old . She’s still on ᴏxʏɢᴇɴ 24/7, but hopefully she can start coming off it next year. Because she was so early she still needed to develop. Part of her ʙʀᴀɪɴ still needed to be developed so things might take a little longer for her.
Despite her sᴇᴛʙᴀᴄᴋs, Charley says:” Ava is ‘just amazing, lovely’ – and like any other parent would say ‘very grouchy’. I went back to college after I had her but I was there from 9am until 3pm and I was just thinking I’d rather be at the hospital by her side. I’m thinking about going back to college when Ava doesn’t need her feeding ᴛᴜʙᴇ or ᴏxʏɢᴇɴ.” Ava-May will celebrate her first birthday surrounded by family and friends on Thursday.
