Mum reveals tiny Aimee’s ‘amazing’ fight for life
Aimee Laura Hennessy — who is so delicate she has been held just once by her mother — is receiving round-the-clock care.
The little girl is so tiny that her parents, Nicola and John from Kilmallock, refer to her as their “little Thumbelina” after the fairy princess who was no bigger than her mother’s thumb.
“We are allowed touch her — I got to hold her the other day just while they were changing her incubator. It was lovely,” said Nicola.
“John has changed her nappy but he hasn’t got to hold her yet. He is a bit nervous, she is so small.”
Nicola gave birth to Aimee — the couple’s first child — on January 6, 24 weeks into her pregnancy. She had been an inpatient of the Mid-Western Regional Maternity Hospital on the Ennis Road since Christmas Day.
Nicola and her husband, John, who are both 32, have maintained an almost constant vigil at the side of Aimee’s incubator.
“It’s an emotional roller- coaster — you have a good day and then Sunday was a very bad day.
“We didn’t know if she was going to pull through on Sunday or not,” said Nicola.
“Her lungs are very underdeveloped so that will be her big battle, her big fight. Everything else seems to be OK, it’s just her lungs.”
Aimee turned the corner on Monday and is doing much better now.
“She is good. She is well settled,” said Nicola, who described her daughter’s determined spirit as “amazing”.
Weighing just 678g or 1lb 5oz at birth, Aimee is one of the smallest babies born in this country.
And already the little fighter has gained over an ounce — she now weighs 710g or 1lb, 6oz.
