'I thought I lost her' - Girl born with water instead of blood shocks doctors

'When I came around from the operation I could see people standing around me crying.'

Frankie Morrison was born via emergency C-section when medics discovered she was not moving within the womb. Doctors warned her parents, Maria and Chris Morrison, to expect the worst - But God had other plans.

LOS ANGELES, CA (Catholic Online) - Maria was rushed to an operating room when doctors discovered Frankie hadn't moved for two days due to the lack of blood in her body.

"I went into hospital on the Sunday before she was born because I couldn't feel her moving and they said that she might just be feeling lazy, but I knew something wasn't right," Maria told Daily Mail.

"They sent me home but told me to go back in if anything else happens. I just knew something wasn't right so I went back in two days later and I am glad I did because I think that's one of the reasons why she is still with us.

"She wasn't moving so they put me on a machine that found she was still alive and still had a heartbeat."

Maria received an emergency Caesarean at 3:10am October 20 and Frankie was born unresponsive. The tiny, fragile life required immediate resuscitation.

A priest was called to bless Frankie that day and the Morrisons could only pray.

"When she came out she was unresponsive," Maria explained. "They got her out and started working on her straight away. When I came around from the operation I could see people standing around me and crying.

"I thought I had lost her. They said she had been having breathing difficulties and told us in a roundabout way that I had to go see her because it's not looking good. They said they didn't hold out much hope for her.

"I went up to her and there was this chubby little eight pound baby who was so bloated because she had all this water instead of blood inside her.

"Her body was soaking wet and they were carrying out chest drains on her because water had got into her lungs and chest. But I just took one look at her and knew she was a fighter and would pull through."

Frankie was stabilized and put on a life-support machine. Babies born with less blood than normal isn't unusual but Frankie's entire body only contained 1.2-ounces of blood.

"It's not completely unheard of but in Frankie's case it was so severe," Maria said. "Babies can pass blood back through the umbilical cord but it's never normally anywhere near like she did. Doctors think she passed one good dose two weeks before she was born and then another dose just before labor came."

Doctors warned Frankie may not survive and if she did, she would be severely impaired for life.

"They said to us that basically her changes weren't looking good and she was being assessed minute-by-minute rather than hour-by-hour or day-by-day.

"Her only chance of survival was to go to Leicester, but they said that on paper her brain should have been starved of oxygen and if she did survive she wouldn't walk and talk and would be severely brain damaged."

The tiny newborn was given two blood transfusions at Hull Royal Infirmary then was flown to Leicester for emergency treatment.

Maria believes the blood transfusions are responsible but the Lord obviously intervened because Frankie's condition
began to improve dramatically during the flight.

Frankie did so well, she was able to transfer back to East Yorkshire after only three days of observation. At three-weeks-old, she was able to go home, where her two older sisters, 10-year-old Brooke and 5-year-old Mollie, were waiting for her.

The Morrisons lived happily and, during Frankie's 6-month checkup, it was discovered the little girl was doing remarkably well.

"She went back at six months for a checkup with her consultant and he was nearly in tears because he couldn't believe how well she was doing," Maria shared.

"They didn't have much hope for her at all. They didn't think she would see the day out.

"It's brilliant. We are just the luckiest people in the world. I would never class myself as unlucky again after seeing what Frankie went through.

"I still cannot believe the baby sat in front of me after everything she has been through. I just want to thank all the staff, because without them she would not be here.

"They are amazing people, absolutely amazing. They are miracle workers in that ward. We feel so lucky because we saw so, so many sad things in those three weeks, but to walk out with Frankie is the best feeling in the world, and it is down to them."

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