A "miracle" baby was born weighing just one pound on May 25. She wasn't expected to live.
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Yet she is continuing to fight for survival at Le Bonheur Children's Hospital in Memphis, where she is receiving care in the facility's level-four NICU.
"She's a fighter," says the child's mother, Presley Stevens. "She's very strong-willed, even right now, and it's amazing to see that."
The Baby Girl Was Born at 25 Weeks
Stevens' daughter, Sylvie, continues to gain weight. As reported by PEOPLE, she is now up to 1.35 lbs, which means doctors can now intervene.
However, it's still a long road for Sylvie, who was born at 25 weeks, to make it home. She is still suffering from a level-four brain bleed. She also has hydrocephalus, which is known as "water on the brain." The Mayo Clinic describes the condition as cerebrospinal fluid in the ventricles, located deep in the brain, which puts pressure on the organ.
The 29-year-old Stevens knows Sylvie will be hospitalized for some time. However, she prays "every single night" for her daughter "to just get better and to come home."
The Mother Was Told Her Child Wouldn't "Survive"
The pregnancy was going well until an anatomy scan at 22 weeks. Doctors then told Stevens that Sylvie was "severely growth-restricted." Her daughter also had abnormal blood flow in her umbilical cord.
"I just want you to understand that she won't survive this," a specialist told Stevens.
The next day, Stevens was hospitalized for high blood pressure. When she gave birth to Sylvie in May, she knew that their time together might be limited. But when Sylvie's heart rate unexpectedly began to rise, the mother thought it was "truly a miracle."
Then, a week after Sylvie's birth, Stevens was able to hold her.
"When they laid her on my chest, it was just like this sigh of relief," she said. "It was just the best medicine for both of us."
Stevens and her husband now drive 90 minutes to see Sylvie every other day, bringing their five-year-old son, Colt, with them.
"Every time he can go see her, he just looks at her, and he'll go, 'Hey, Sylvie. Hey, sister,'" says Presley. "It's so sweet."
He also regularly prays for his sister's health.
Says Stevens, "Every night he prays for her to get better so that he can play with her when she comes home."
