Esther Lauaki
Tiny baby Hunter continues to defy the odds – just like his mum Chloe Zammit.
Delivered by emergency cesarean on July 5 at 27 weeks, Hunter weighed little more than a block of butter at 811 grams and set a record as the smallest baby born at Joan Kirner Hospital in Sunshine.
Ms Zammit and her partner Dillon’s fertility journey has been heartbreakingly difficult.
“I had my daughter Marissa by cesarean at 18 and then had five miscarriages after that and we didn’t know why,” she told Star Weekly.
“I fell pregnant again and it was an ectopic pregnancy which was actually stuck in scar tissue from my first delivery.
“That pregnancy resulted in another miscarriage and doctors told me in 2018 that I would no longer be able to have any children.”
Ms Zammit said she counted herself and Hunter “lucky to be here”.
“It was a high-risk pregnancy and I had many more check-ups than normal,” she said.
“When they delivered Hunter, I didn’t think I would hear him cry but he cried and I was so relieved.
“I saw him first and they put him next to me before they rushed him away…I didn’t get to kiss him at all for six days and I had my first cuddle on July 12.”
Hunter’s first three months were spent on a breathing machine, having blood transfusions, COVID-19 tests and fighting infection.
Doctors believed he would need oxygen for the next two years but Hunter proved them wrong and is now breathing on his own.
Ms Zammit said the family was not out of the woods yet but Hunter was doing well.
“I always thought that being a mother was what I was born to be,” she said.
“I risked my life to have my son.
“He’s a little machine and I’m so thankful for all the support that we have received.”.
Esther Lauaki
