A baby that doctors believe is the most premature to survive in Australia has been discharged from hospital after spending 14 weeks in ICU.
Makerita Miracle Tanuvasa arrived four months early to Annrose and Misi on March 25, at the Royal Brisbane and Women’s Hospital, and weighed just 351 grams - less than a can of Coke.
Annrose said she "took one look at her and I was like, 'there's no way she’s gonna make it’."
"She was about like hand-size, like our palm, we weren’t able to hold her, but it was yeah, she was very, very small," Misi said.
Born at 21 weeks and three days, she was so premature that resuscitation would usually not be an option.
It meant Miracle was not only believed to be the tiniest baby born in Queensland, but the most premature in Australia to survive.
She was just four days from becoming the most premature in the world.
Health workers said her survival would be almost unbelievable had they not witnessed it themselves.
Registered nurse Renee Judd told 9News: "It's quite a miracle, hence the name Miracle as well."
The parents couldn’t physically hold her until four weeks. She spent a total of 14 weeks in ICU.
Miracle's discharge this month was a milestone that for so long seemed out of reach.
Annrose only discovered she was pregnant five days before her baby was born, after completing a gym challenge but dropping little weight.
"The sonographer told us that we were about 22 weeks pregnant. But I told her, I said that’s impossible. And she was like, 'Why do you think it’s impossible?’'And I said, ‘Because I had a miscarriage in December'," she explained.
"She said, 'Well maybe you had a twin and you miscarried the twin'."
Later, doctors who examined the tests estimated Miracle to be even younger than expected.
“Even the doctors couldn’t explain how she was able to survive everything she's gone through," Misi said.
A typical pregnancy was about 40 weeks.
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