'Lily was tiny, tiny': Child born the length of a ballpoint pen with translucent skin miraculously survives

'When they were pulling Lily out, she grabbed on to the doctor's glove and it snapped back on his hand and he said that's a good sign - she's a fighter.'

Michelle Roberts-Cobbing was six months into her pregnancy when she learned one of the twin girls growing in her womb might not make it.

LOS ANGELES, CA (Catholic Online) -  Roberts-Cobbing told Daily Mail that the smaller twin, Lily, wasn't growing at the same rate as her sister, Summer. 

She had daily ultrasounds and was constantly monitored throughout her pregnancy and, with three months to her due date, was told "the babies were coming today."

"They monitor it all so closely - if Lily had passed away in the womb, Summer would have had a stroke and die as well," Roberts-Cobbing explained.

Summer and Lily were delivered via cesarean, with Summer fully formed but Lily was less than half the size of her sister and her eyes were still closed.

"There were tears. It was scary but you just do what you have to do for them," Roberts-Cobbing described. Both girls were immediately put on ventilators and were transferred to the neonatal intensive care unit.

"Lily was tiny, tiny," Roberts-Cobbing recalled. Her little girl was only the length of a ballpoint pen and weighed less than 14-ounces. "Her ears were like little dried apricots, her tummy was so see through you could see her organs and her eyes were still shut for a few more weeks."

Concern for Lily's survival was fresh on everyone's minds, but Roberts-Cobbing explained, "When they were pulling Lily out, she grabbed on to the doctor's glove and it snapped back on his hand and he said that's a good sign - she's a fighter."

Lily's progress was closely monitored after her birth and, when she was only four-weeks-old, her parents were asked to prepare for the worst.

Rather than lamenting the possible death of their tiny daughter, Roberts-Cobbing and her husband, Michael, took Summer and placed her beside Lily. They hoped the close proximity would simulate the physical closeness the two shared in the womb and might trigger some kind of miracle for Lily.

"Lily snuggled into Summer and Summer snuggled into Lily," Roberts-Cobbing recalled. 

Apparently, the proximity did the trick and at eight-months-old, Lily was well enough to join her family at home.

"She had problems with her heart and chronic lung disease and got a staph infection - she came home and was on oxygen until she was two-and-a-half years old," Roberts-Cobbing said.

Regardless of her issues, Lily returned home and the twins are now nearly six-years-old.

Blessedly, Lily's lungs were not severely damaged as a result of being born premature and so far behind physically. Until her eighth birthday, it is uncertain whether the premature birth will have a permanent affect on her lungs, but in the meantime she is enjoying life as a little girl.

Though Lily and Summer have obvious identical features, Lily remains smaller than her sister, and the two have extremely different personalities.

"Summer is dramatic and Lily is very laid back and goes with the flow," Roberts-Cobbing described. "They love all the little girlie things and Lily loves Star Wars and Chewbacca. We're just so proud of them."

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