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One of the smallest baby's to ever undergo open heart surgery is now making a remarkable recovery.

Eleana Hastings weighed just 3lb 5oz - equivalent to six packs of butter - when she went under the surgeon's knife in an emergency operation.

She was born six weeks prematurely with a rare heart problem, but her life was saved by medics at Birmingham Children's Hospital.

Mother Francesca Hastings said Eleana (pictured) was a 'happy little girl' and a favourite with the hospital staff

Her parents Francesca and Darren, both 36, said their ordeal had put them on an emotional roller coaster.

Mrs Hastings, said: 'Only when she came out of surgery safely, did we let ourselves cry with happiness.'

The couple had been delighted when they found Francesca was expecting their fourth child.

But a scan at 22 weeks revealed the baby had a severe heart condition and would need open heart surgery soon after birth to save her life.

'We had gone for a routine scan,' said Mrs Hastings, who is a finance manager for a children's nursery.

'We weren't expecting anything untoward but it revealed that Eleana had a heart problem. But it wasn't until we saw Dr Desai, a consultant fetal cardiologist at Birmingham Children's Hospital, that we realised just how serious the condition was. He sat us down and explained it all.'

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Francesca and Darren with (l-r) Jamie, Imogen and Alfie are thrilled with the new addition to their family

Eleana had a missing pulmonary valve, a large hole between her two heart ventricles and dilated pulmonary arteries. The conditions would need corrective surgery, and it would be a lifetime condition.

'I was told that I would have to have a weekly scan to check on the baby's progress and, more worryingly, look for signs of cardiac failure,' Mrs Hastings said.

'Up until this point, we had taken it all in. We had listened to the facts and stayed calm, considering the information we were being given.

'It wasn't until a midwife at Birmingham Women's Hospital asked if I was OK that the floodgates opened. I burst into tears.

'We spent the rest of the week letting the family know the problems that Eleana had.

'The hardest thing was explaining to our two eldest children, Jamie and Imogen, now 11 and 8, that their little sister, who wouldn't be born for months, would be very poorly.'

The mother from Coventry, went into labour unexpectedly on January 13.

She was 34 weeks pregnant, and gave birth to Eleana naturally at University Hospital Coventry and Warwickshire.

After the birth Eleana was rushed straight to a neonatal intensive care bed. She was suffering breathing problems because she had enlarged pulmonary arteries that were compressing her airways and she had to be put on a ventilator.

She remained stable but increasingly had problems in maintaining her oxygen levels.

Nine days later she was transferred to Birmingham Children's Hospital, where leading cardiac surgeon Mr William Brawn performed major open heart surgery on her.

In a four-hour procedure, he closed the hole in her heart and reconstructed her lung arteries to relieve the compression of the lungs.

The narrow area leading into her lung arteries was also enlarged, restoring normal circulation to her lungs and body.

Just 10 weeks later, and aged only three months, Eleana had to undergo a second major open heart operation to enlarge the way into her lung arteries and reconstruct the still large lung arteries.

She also had two bronchoscopies to check the condition of the air passages from the inside, and needs a pneumatic stent to keep her airways open and allow her to breathe.

'Eleana will need further heart surgery sometime in the future when she is bigger,' Mrs Hastings said.

'Despite all this, she is a happy little girl, a great favourite with the staff and her doting big brothers and sister.

Eleana was transferred to the Birmingham Children's Hospital, where she became one of the smallest children in Britain to have open heart surgery

'As a family, it's been very hard to juggle home life and hospital life. Jamie and Imogen have been like a rock to Darren and me during the difficult times.

'Alfie makes us all laugh with his toddler antics, even in the darkest times. We couldn't have got through all this without them.'

She added: 'There was a time when Darren and I walked into the hospital, knowing Eleana was about to undergo surgery which she had a 30 per cent chance of not surviving.

'Now we're looking forward to the day we can take Eleana home for good.'dailymail.co.uk