A baby born at 22 weeks is thriving despite being so small he could wear his dad's wedding ring as a bracelet. <br /><br />Ima Carnelus, 37, went into labour at 21 weeks due to a urinary tract infection (UTI).<br /><br />Doctors told Ima and her husband, Marcus, 42, they had to pick between an emergency surgery or letting their baby pass away naturally, she said.<br /><br />They wanted to "give him a chance" so tiny Jaxson was born via emergency c-section at 22 weeks.<br /><br />He was given a 20 per cent chance of survival but the tot - just 11 inches long and weighing 1lb 2.9oz - survived the birth.<br /><br />He was the most premature baby the hospital had ever seen.<br /><br />Jaxson was rushed to the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) at Miller's Children's Hospital, Long Beach, California, for surgery, where he fought for his life.<br /><br />Against the odds, he went home after 119 days in hospital.<br /><br />Jaxson has just started third grade - a milestone doctors warned he'd likely never reach - and his proud parents say the journey made the whole family stronger.<br /><br />Ima, an entrepreneur, from Torrance, California, US, said: "When doctors gave him a 20 per cent chance of survival, we still wanted to give him a chance.<br /><br />"It was touch and go at the beginning - I felt guilty, like my body had failed my son.<br /><br />"When he eventually came home, he was an amazing little baby.<br /><br />"Now he's just turned eight - nobody expected he'd make it past the first 24 hours, never mind eight years.<br /><br />"A lot of times people think it was the worst thing to happen to us but honestly it was the best.<br /><br />"It made us look at life in a different perspective and appreciate the gift of life."<br /><br />Ima and Marcus, a fashion business owner, were excited to learn they'd be having their first child due in November 2015.<br /><br />The pregnancy was smooth until 21 weeks - on July 9, Ima developed a UTI, which triggered a pre-term labour as her body tried to fight the infection.<br /><br />Doctors were confident that they could delay labour for a bit longer to give the baby more time to develop.<br /><br />But she had another bout of illness, five days later, and this time it triggered active labour.<br /><br />After 10 hours of contractions doctors warned the tot had just a 20 per cent chance of survival - and warned he could be born severely disabled.<br /><br />Ima - also mum to Kamryn, four - said: "The doctors suggested we let him be born with no life-saving measures, and just let him pass away peacefully.<br /><br />"They didn't feel we should put him through what they thought would be a 'hard life'.<br /><br />"But we thought 'what if a miracle could happen?' - and we'd love him however he came out.<br /><br />"We knew we wanted to give him a chance."<br /><br />On July 18, at Providence Little Company of Mary Medical Center, tiny Jaxson was born via emergency c-section.<br /><br />Weighing just 1lb 2.9oz and measuring just 11 inches, doctors swooped in as he wasn't breathing.<br /><br />The tot was so small he could wear dad Marcus' wedding ring as a bracelet.<br /><br />After a "touch and go" 24 hours, where the tot was resuscitated three times, medics wired him up to a
