Doctors let baby born weighing less than 1 pound move closer to home for Christmas

By Douglas Whitbread via SWNS

A miracle baby born weighing less than a 1lb is a step closer to going back home after reaching the size of a Christmas cracker.

At nine weeks old, Lily Bickerdike-Guile has survived sepsis, pneumonia, chronic lung disease and even an addiction to opioids after being put on 48 different medications.

So when her mom Cheryl Guile, 39, heard that doctors would let the tot move to a hospital just ten minutes from her home, she said it was “the best Christmas present.”

Lily was born alongside her twin sister, Daisy, in late October after a pregnancy lasting just 23 weeks, with nurses using “plastic bags” to keep the premature pair warm.

Sadly, little Daisy passed away just two weeks after her birth, leaving her family devastated at her loss after such a short life.

But despite this, Cheryl, from Milton Keynes, said it was a “dream” to be so close to Lilly over the festive period, after previously needing to drive hours to see her in Oxford.

“Without a doubt, having Lilly back in Milton Keynes is the best present we could have hoped for," she said.

“When they were first born, we didn’t know if they were going to make it one night, so to have her back here is really overwhelming.”

“I think we’re still in shock at the moment, to be perfectly honest. It’s just quite unbelievable that she’s here. It’s like a dream.”

Mom of five Cheryl, who is a support worker, gave birth to the twins on October 20 after she went into labor roughly four months before her due date of February 6, 2022.

"We had twins and Lilly was only 15 ounces, and Daisy was 1 lb, 1 ounce," she said.

“They were actually born into plastic bags to keep their body temperature up, like little sandwich bags with little hoods, and they were both ventilated straight away.

“But sadly, after two weeks, three days, Daisy passed away, so, Lilly is our surviving twin."

Lily was later treated by specialist teams at Oxford's John Radcliffe Hospital, where her complex conditions could be monitored.

“She’s been through so much it’s unbelievable – chronic lung disease, sepsis, septicaemia and pneumonia,"Cheryl said

“She’s even had an opioid addiction because she was on morphine and fentanyl. Since she’s been born, so nine weeks, she’s had 48 different medications.”

“Oxford are a specialist hospital. They’ve been absolutely amazing because Milton Keynes couldn’t deal with those complications.”

Last Sunday, Cheryl said she got the “shocking” news that Lily was doing so well that she might be able to move to Milton Keynes hospital, just ten minutes from her home.

“We were hoping it would be before Christmas, but they said it could be any amount of time – they didn't know when they’d have room for her," she said.

“But on Wednesday, Oxford called me and said there’s a space, and she’s literally leaving in two hours.”

Little Lily was transported to Milton Keynes University Hospital by ambulance in an incubator covered in pink fairy lights.

Cheryl said that her family were “overjoyed” at the news that they’d now be able to visit her on Christmas day and expected to take her home sometime in February.

But despite these positive developments, she said that her family's Christmas would also be a time to reflect on their loss.

“Christmas is a bit of a difficult one because obviously, we’ve lost Daisy as well, so at the same time we’ve got a lot of sadness.

“At home on our Christmas tree, we’ve got specially made baubles with Daisy name. We want to remember Daisy just as much.

“But now Lilly is back in Milton Keynes, we can travel to see her on Christmas day!”