TAKING your baby home from hospital for the first time is a big event in most people's lives.

But for new parents Michelle Birch and Jarrod Crompton it was a day that, in their darkest moments, they thought they would never see.

When baby Samuel was born, he was so small, he could fit into the palm of his mother's hand.

Weighing in at 1lb 2oz and born 13 weeks prematurely, his lungs were so under developed that when Michelle first saw him, two days after his birth, she prepared herself for the worst.

But now, four-month-old son Sam is at home and mother Michelle, aged 27, of Eden Street, Astley Bridge, hopes her family's happy ending will give hope to other parents going through the same experience.

Sam was born at Hope Hospital after doctors at Bolton had diagnosed Michelle with severe pre-eclampsia.

She was rushed to Hope for an emergency Caesarean Section because the neo-natal intensive care ward at Bolton was full. It was there that Sam spent the first four weeks of his life until he was stable enough to be moved to Bolton.

He was allowed home on May 17, having spent the first 100 days of his life in hospital.

Mum Michelle said: "At his last weigh-in he was 8lbs 2oz. Sam's technically four-months-old but if he'd been full term he would only be a month old.

"Sometimes I still can't believe we've got him home. The past few months have been a rollercoaster.

"As a parent you feel so helpless."

Tests have shown that Sam's retina is slightly undeveloped, often a problem with premature babies, but the extent of the problem will only be able to be assessed in the coming years.

Michelle said: "We don't know how long he's still going to need the oxygen tubes for but the doctors say his oxygen levels are improving all the time. He certainly seems to have a powerful set of lungs on him especially when he wants feeding!

"We're just so happy to have him home and so grateful to all the doctors and nurses that made it possible.

"We know how lucky we are."