Image by: Danielle Forrester
Meet the baby who was so tiny when he arrived almost three months early – he was dwarfed by his TEDDY BEAR.
Little Logan Teague weighed just 1lbs 8oz when he was born 11 weeks early on 30th September 2019.
His mum, Danielle Forrester, 24, and dad, Ben Teague, 24, a van driver, nestled a teddy bear beside him to comfort him whilst he was in an incubator in the neonatal intensive care unit at Northampton General Hospital.
The soft toy was bigger than the tiny tot, but after nine weeks in hospital, Logan battled to full health and was allowed home to Northampton, East Midlands.
Now four months old and weighing 6lbs 10oz, Logan still has the bear – affectionately named ‘Ted’ – which has become a firm favourite.
Mum Danielle, who works in recruitment, said: “When Logan was born we put a little teddy bear in his incubator to comfort him while he was in hospital.
“The teddy was pretty small, but Logan was so weeny, it swamped him.
“It made us realise just how tiny and fragile he was.
“He’s come such a long way and is now in proportion with his little bear. It’s become one of his favourite toys – he loves snuggling up with it.
“We are so proud of how far he’s come.”
Danielle discovered she was expecting when she was 13 weeks gone in June 2019.
She said: “I found out quite late that I was pregnant.
“I hadn’t really noticed any symptoms – like morning sickness or back ache.
“But when my clothes stopped fitting me, I suddenly thought: ‘I haven’t had my period for a while.’
“I did three pregnancy tests which came back inconclusive.
“But when I took the next three they were all positive.
“I rang the doctors and made an appointment which confirmed I was having a baby – by which point I was already 13 weeks along.”
Image by: Danielle Forrester
Image by: Danielle Forrester
Image by: Danielle Forrester
Although the couple hadn’t planned to start a family so soon, they were thrilled at the prospect of becoming parents.
Danielle said: “It was a bit of a shock at first. I was on the pill and we hadn’t planned it.
“We had always wanted to have a baby, but thought it would be a bit later on in our lives.
“Once we got our head around the news, it was a lovely surprise.”
Danielle said she had a ‘textbook pregnancy’ at first and felt she was ‘coasting through it’.
She said: “I only had morning sickness a couple of times.
“I felt really like it was an easy, textbook pregnancy at the beginning.
“I was sailing through.
“We found out we were having a little boy at our 20-week scan and we were both thrilled. It’s just what we wanted.”
Danielle’s pregnancy was classed as high-risk as she had a kidney removed five years previously after the organ failed and was causing health problems for her.
She said: “As I only had one kidney, they wanted to make sure my body could cope with the pregnancy.
“I had appointments with a consultant every month to check on the baby and everything seemed fine.”
At 28 weeks, in September 2019, Danielle suffered a bleed.
She said: “It was terrifying.
“We rushed straight to Northampton General Hospital.
“They didn’t know what had caused it at first – they did ultrasounds to check on the baby and I was hooked up to a monitoring system.
“I was kept in hospital for a few days while doctors tried to get to the bottom of it.
“I was warned it was unlikely I’d be able to go home before I had the baby – so I thought I might be in there for a while.
“A scan showed the baby was breech and medics eventually found the bleeding had been caused by a slight tear in my placenta.
“A couple of days later, I had another big bleed and when they hooked me up to the monitor they found the baby’s heart kept dipping and slowing down.
“They could see the placenta was tearing even more and told me the next day I’d need to undergo an emergency c-section.
“On the day Logan was born, when transferring from the wheelchair to the operating table, I had another big bleed which the doctors said was my placenta detaching fully.
“It meant there was a limited amount of time to get Logan out safely so it was all a bit frantic.
“I had to have an epidural injected into my spine to numb me from my boobs down, but it only numbed the right side of my body.
“The doctors became very worried and explained that they could give me the injection again to see if it numbs the left side otherwise I would have to be put to sleep which could be dangerous.
“Luckily the second lot of the epidural worked and I was completely numb.
“Logan let out a big scream when they took him out of my stomach which made both Ben and I cry – mainly tears of relief.”
Image by: Danielle Forrester
Image by: Danielle Forrester
Image by: Danielle Forrester
Little Logan was born on 30th September 2019 at 2.07pm weighing 1lbs 8oz – but his weight dropped to just 1lbs 6oz a couple of days after he was born.
Danielle said: “Ben was in the operating theatre with me and as soon as Logan arrived we were able to have a quick glance.
“He was popped in a sandwich bag to keep warm and was put on oxygen straight away.
“Medics brought him over so we could say ‘hello’ to our son, before he was whisked up to the NICU ward.
“It was so hard not being able to touch or hold him.”
The new parents were able to properly meet their little boy a few hours after the birth.
Danielle said: “It was crazy when we first saw him.
“He was so tiny – you could hold him in the palm of your hand.
“We were allowed a quick cuddle then.
“My mum, Donna, 45, had bought Logan a teddy bear before he was born – whilst I was in hospital.
“I remember thinking it was so diddy.
“When Logan arrived, we decided to put it in his incubator with him to comfort him. We wanted him to have something.
“But Logan was so small the teddy swamped him.”
Logan was in hospital for nine weeks, before he was strong enough to leave.
Danielle said: “We were really lucky.
“Because I’d been in hospital for a week before Logan was born, I was given steroids and magnesium to help strengthen his lungs as they weren’t fully developed.
“He came off oxygen a week after he was born.
“We only had one hiccup with his breathing which was when his iron levels dropped really low and he had to go back on oxygen for a few days.
“He also had to have two blood transfusions.
“The first one was when he was two weeks old – but he wasn’t strong enough for it until he had the oxygen.
“The second was when he was six weeks old.
“They were to top up his blood – because his iron was so low – to try and get him a bit stronger as, at first, he wasn’t breathing for himself or feeding as much.”
Danielle added: “The doctors originally said Logan would be in hospital until his due date – 16th December 2019 – or maybe even a bit longer.
“But he came home ahead of time – at the beginning of December.
“He is now four months old and weighs 6lbs 10oz.
“When I look at the teddy bear now I can’t believe Logan was ever smaller than it. It’s one of his favourite toys.
“We are so proud of him and how far he has come.”
