WHEN Jacob Campbell was born he weighed less than a 500g tub of margarine.

Doctors didn't think he was big enough to survive – even his Delungra parents Sean and Sarah had doubts.

But no one had counted on the amazing fighting qualities of one so small.

It's almost 12 months since Jacob entered the world and tomorrow family and friends will tuck into fairy bread and drink cordial from cups as they celebrate Jacob's looming first birthday.

Sean and Sarah have rarely had the chance to show off their son, who stopped growing at 22 weeks and was born at 28 weeks gestation.

He is believed to be one of the smallest babies born at John Hunter Hospital in Newcastle to survive.

"Sean and I, when we were in the hospital, we said to each other, 'we're going to have a big party for his first birthday'," Sarah said.

"When we brought him home we couldn't show him to everyone and people didn't come over.

"We couldn't take him near people in case they had the flu because his lungs were still fragile at that stage."

Born on December 14 and weighing a meagre 430g, Jacob returned home three months later weighing just 1.7kg.

But Sarah believes Jacob's real lifesaver was Inverell doctor Robert Palmer, who detected slow development in the womb early on.

"If he hadn't have had his own ultrasound in his consult room he wouldn't have found out the problem early enough," she said.

Sarah said she was initially sent to Sydney for further tests, but then transferred to John Hunter Hospital where her aunt is a nurse in the neo-natal intensive care unit.

"She couldn't nurse him, but kept an eye on him which was a huge relief," Sarah said.

The following day, at about 2pm, Mrs Campbell had a caesarean.

"They were quite shocked at how small he was," she said. "He just came out like a little ball and rolled out onto the tray.

"They weren't that positive when he was born because he was so little and their smallest equipment was too big for him.

"They had to make do."

© 2006 Inverell Times

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