A “miracle” baby who was born without eyes and had half her brain removed is baffling doctors by hitting all her milestones.<br /><br />Harlym Carter, who is five months old, was born with anophthalmia - a birth defect in which one or both eyes don’t develop fully. <br /><br />Doctors discovered the left side of her brain was underdeveloped after Harlym had several seizures - and she had life-changing surgery to disconnect the left side of her brain from her right.<br /><br />But mum Allyanna Carter, 19, says she’s almost crawling, able to sit upright and hold her head up - as well as babbling and drinking from a bottle. <br /><br />Allyanna, who cares for Harlym full-time, from Salisbury, North Carolina, said: “When I was first told about Harlym’s condition, I was heartbroken. But already, doctors are extremely surprised at how she’s doing. <br /><br />“I was told she’d never be able to walk or talk - but she’s nearly crawling, even though she can’t use the right side of her body. <br /><br />“She’s the best baby ever - and so talkative!<br /><br />"At first I automatically assumed her conditions had something to do with me - any mum is going to blame herself. <br /><br />"But doctors told me there wasn't a clear reason why she was born with so many conditions - it's just genetics."<br /><br />Allyana found out she was pregnant in November 2022 and had a healthy pregnancy all the way through. <br /><br />She was told Harlym looked “perfectly healthy" at her 20 week scan - and had no idea about her health problems until she gave birth. <br /><br />Allyana said: “I didn’t know she had any conditions during my entire pregnancy.<br /><br />“I had a perfectly healthy pregnancy - no complications.<br /><br />“Every pregnancy scan I was told she looked fine.”<br /><br />Allyanna went into labour on July 21, 2023 and Harlym was born the following evening at 9.08pm, at the Novant Health Centre, Salisbury, weighing WHAT.<br /><br />Doctors instantly took Harlym away to clean her - and pulled Allyanna’s mum, Kacie, 40, to the side. <br /><br />They told her there was a possibility Harlym had been born without eyes - but couldn’t work out whether her face was just really swollen. <br /><br />Kacie was told the newborn would be sent for a CT scan the following day - and she was left to break the news to Allyanna. <br /><br />Allyanna said: “I wasn’t paying attention to what the doctors were telling my mum - I was just holding Harlym, having quality time with my baby. <br /><br />“They told her they were planning a CT scan the next day." <br /><br />At one day old, Harlym had a seizure and the CT confirmed she'd been born without eyes.<br /><br />Allyanna said: "I was absolutely heartbroken. I was thinking about how she'd never be looked at as regular.<br /><br />"It was very hard for me - but when she was transferred back to the NICU, I was told she had a lot of other conditions, and I thought - I'm going to love her anyway."
