Premature 1lb 3oz baby was so small she could wear dad’s wedding ring as bracelet

A child who was born weighing just 1lb 3oz and was able to wear her father’s wedding ring as a bracelet has just turned six-years-old.

Thankfully, Poppy Cooke can now slip the jewellery on her finger instead as she’s grown into a happy little girl.

Poppy arrived a whopping 19 weeks early at 25 weeks gestation in November 2014 and had to stay in three different hospitals for 107 days before going home with parents Lucy and Matt.

The tiny baby was once dwarfed by her dad’s ring, but now she’s thriving despite battling a cyst on the brain, a hole in her heart, lung disease and needing five blood transfusions.

Mum Lucy, a payroll assistant at a charity, said: “Poppy was so tiny when we she was born. We could hardly touch her in case we broke her skin as it was paper thin.

“Seeing my husband’s ring on her wrist was crazy. It showed just how little she was. Now she can put it on her finger and thumb.

“She’s just incredible and amazes me every day.”

The mum, now 33, went to Worthing Hospital in West Sussex at 25 weeks when her blood pressure sky rocketed and she began getting stomach pains.

She was diagnosed with pre-eclampsia and HELLP syndrome – a liver and blood clothing disorder.

Lucy added: “I was told that my baby would be coming on the weekend.

“I had no idea it would happen so fast – we hadn’t even decided on a name as we’d only just found out the gender.”

She gave birth at Princess Anne Hospital in Southampton after being moved because little Poppy would require specialist equipment when born.

On November 22, Lucy had an emergency C-section and her little girl was taken to the NICU.

She commented: “I didn’t get to see Poppy for 10 hours. She was all hooked up to loads of wires and so tiny.

“We didn’t even get to cuddle her until she was 10 days old as her skin was too fragile.

“We couldn’t stroke her in case that broke her skin.”

Eventually, at three weeks old, Poppy was transferred to Worthing Hospital which was closer to home where she returned on March 7 2015 – five days after her original due date.

Nowadays, Poppy is thriving.

Lucy said: “She is a fountain of knowledge, She’s so good at maths.

“It feels out of this world for us that she is doing so well.

“She’s very happy and jokey and loves playing with her Barbies. She is a dream.”

Poppy said: “I can’t believe that I was so small as a baby and now I am so tall.”

Awww!

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