A baby who weighed a tiny 1lb 9oz after being born at just 24 weeks and three days is finally home.
River Willis arrived on July 27 last year via emergency C-section after his mother Cara Willis' placenta came away from the wall of her womb - putting both their lives at risk.
The newborn gradually grew stronger, until he was struck by sepsis at three weeks old, which left his face so swollen Mrs Willis, 24, did not recognise her own son.
Doctors even warned they would have to withdraw treatment if he failed to improve.
After pulling through, River spent three-and-a-half months at University Hospital of Wales, Cardiff, before being transferred to Prince Charles Hospital in Merthyr Tydfil - far closer to the family's home in Tredegar.
It was not until he was five months old that the youngster was finally able to go home, with him still requiring oxygen ahead of open-heart surgery in October.
River Willis (pictured recently, aged seven months) spent the first five months of his life in hospital after he was born four months premature on July 27 last year. He also endured sepsis at three weeks. Although home, he requires oxygen ahead of open-heart surgery in October
Pictured as a newborn at University Hospital of Wales, Cardiff,, River weighed a tiny 1lb 9oz and could 'fit into the size of your hand'. His parents claim he was so small you almost missed him when nurses pulled back his blankets and he was half the size of the teddy bears in his bed
Doctors were forced to carry out an emergency C-section four months ahead of River's due date when Mrs Willis endured a placenta abruption.
This caused such severe bleeding it 'turned the hospital bed red', she claims.
Placenta abruption affects up to one per cent of pregnancies and increases the risk a baby will be born premature or with complications.
The mother-of-four said: 'They had to put me to sleep in order to deliver the baby.
'When I woke up I didn't know if my son would be alive or dead.
'As I'd been given a high dose of morphine I was really struggling to speak.
'I kept on trying to ask if the baby was okay. I didn't know his weight, his condition or what he looked like.
'I wanted updates but they weren't telling me too much.'
After a seven-hour wait, which Mrs Willis describes as the worst time of her life, a nurse brought her and her husband Luke a picture of their son.
'It was lovely,' Mrs Willis said. 'He was so early that his skin was still see-through.
'He also had a big bag over him to keep him warm and loads of wires around him.'
But it would be another two days before the couple could see their baby for the first time.
'They lifted up the blankets around him and he was so small you could hardly see him,' Mrs Willis said. 'We both cried.
'He was about half the size of the little teddy bears around him.
'You could literally fit him into the palm of your hand, but we couldn't hold him for two weeks.'
River's parents Cara and Luke Willis (pictured together) call their son's progress 'amazing'
Doctors and nurses reassured the parents River's chances of survival grew with every passing hour.
And for the next three weeks he made promising progress despite his weight dropping to 1lb at one stage.
Although thrilled her son was on the mend, it was a difficult time for Mrs Willis.
'He was so premature my milk hadn't come in yet which meant I couldn't express,' she said.
'Not being able to feed my own child was heartbreaking. He ended up
