Preemie Baby Defied All Odds After She Was Born Weighing Less Than 2 Lbs.

Brooklynn, a mom of three based in Iowa, went into labor at 26 weeks while she and her family were vacationing in Tucson, Ariz., according to ABC15 Arizona. It was about four months before her due date when her daughter Rosemary entered the world, weighing just under 2 lbs.

“You could see through her skin,” she recalled in an interview with the Phoenix Children’s Foundation. “They said the outcome wasn’t going to be very positive.”

“She was tiny, and she’d fit in the palm of my hand,” Jeff, the proud dad, said. “But she was actually a beautiful baby.”

As time went on, things for baby Rosemary started to look grim. The doting dad told the Phoenix Children’s Foundation that he “did not see hope” in his daughter’s chance of survival.

Eventually, Brooklynn said doctors called her and insinuated that her daughter wasn’t going to make it, noting that it may be time to say her goodbyes. She decided to spend the day with her newborn and cherish all the time she had left.

“Thankfully, she actually got a little bit better, and that’s when … she had to be flown to Phoenix Children’s [Hospital],” she recalled. “And then once we got to Phoenix Children’s, everything just did a complete turnaround.”

Rosemary stayed in the NICU at Phoenix Children’s Hospital for nearly eight months, enduring multiple surgeries on her stomach, heart, airways and her eyes.

“It was a very long stay. I spent a lot of nights on one of those couches. It was a lot,” Brooklynn told ABC15 Arizona during an exclusive interview. “I think I know this hospital like the back of my hand now. I know where the nooks and crannies are.”

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Back at home, the proud mom has two other children who were kept away due to hospital restrictions. They couldn’t meet their baby sister for months and only communicated with her through FaceTime calls, where they could see all the tubes and machinery around her.

“My son was 6, and he asked if she was a robot, so I’m like ‘No, she’s not,’ ” Brooklynn said.

After her extended stay in the NICU, Brooklynn was finally able to return home with her daughter. Now, her daughter is developing and getting better every day.

“I wholeheartedly believe that my child is here because of Phoenix Children’s. I would not have a baby,” she said. “They literally saved her life.”

While speaking with the hospital’s foundation, she shared how “awesome” it has been to see her daughter learning, growing and playing with her siblings.

“It’s awesome to see her with her siblings. It’s awesome to see her playing and learning and growing,” she said. “I almost forget that anything is wrong sometimes, just because she’s so happy, and she makes me so happy. So it’s been really nice to see her grow and know that she’s going to be able to have such a great life.”