Theo’s parents say the pregnancy progressed as normal, but at their 19-week scan they were told he was smaller than expected and given the devastating news that the baby had stopped growing and were told to “expect the worst”.
Theo’s mother,was then hopsitalised with pre-eclampsia and three days later doctors carried out an emergency caesarian section after they found fluid around Theo’s heart.
When he was born at 26 weeks and 5 days, he weighed only 12 oz. He was born through emergency C-section and was no bigger than his father’s hand.
His mother had been offered a termination the day before he was born because of his minuscule size.
Parents Katie Rhodes, 24, and Jay, 27, only got to touch his hand for a few seconds before he was whisked away to be put on a breathing machine. Doctors warned that he might not survive long enough to go home.
Theo is thought to be the tiniest baby to survive in the UK since Aaliyah Hart, who is now 15 years old and was born in May 2003 at 12 oz.
“It’s weird to think he was the smallest baby ever as he is now so much bigger and doing so well,” said support worker Katie, from Durham.
Theo still takes doses of nasal oxygen but doctors don’t think he will suffer any more complications.
Katie said: “He’s a little fighter. Before he was born, it was really hard hearing all the time that he wasn’t going to make it, and even when he was born that we might not get to take him home.
“But we got through it by saying, ‘no, he’s made it this far, lets just support him’.
“We were so positive and kept saying that we would fight for him.”
Jay, a delivery driver, said he was the most frightened he has ever been when he saw how tiny his son was.
“I had never ever seen a baby that small – I didn’t know babies could be that small,” he said.
“I kept saying to Katie that everything would be OK and he would be fine, but it wasn’t until I saw him that I realised how serious things were.
“The doctor said he was about the weight of a can of Coke, but even when I picked up a can, it felt heavier than Theo.
“But he is proving everyone wrong. The doctors that first looked after him came in over the weeks to see him and could not believe how well he was doing.”
