DENVER (KDVR) — Charlee wasn’t supposed to be a 2020 baby. She was born Dec. 20 — two and a half months early.

She’s teeny and tiny. But at just two and a half pounds, she’s already mighty.

“She is lively as hell. She is strong. She has character,” said Trevor Nightingale, Charlee’s father.

Charlee’s story is a lot like everyone else’s 2020 story.

“This last year really had people down. Kicked us all while we were down,” Nightingale said.

Charlee’s mom, Paulette, developed a condition during her pregnancy called Preeclampsia.

“[I] Sobbed my eyes out for five to ten minutes when I realized that it was potentially fatal,” said Paulette.

Mom and baby were rushed to Presbyterian Saint Luke’s and Rocky Mountain Hospital for Children, where they were both saved. But they had to be separated for two full days due to the pandemic.

“Couple that with that fact that we are alone in another state spending the holidays in a hospital,” said Trevor.

On top of being in the hospital, the new mom and dad were from out of town. They were in Colorado for a “babymoon” vacation.

While baby Charlee isn’t the souvenir the parents expected, she’s the one they needed as 2020 came to a close.

“You feel like maybe there’s a light at the end of the tunnel and that does bring this feeling of hope like perhaps we’re gonna get back to normal,” said Dr. Anna Zimmermann.

It’ll be a few more months in the NICU before baby Charlee can get to normal, but her parents say she’s a reminder of how lucky they were.

“It makes us realize that while we are this lucky, so many people aren’t,” Trevor said. “There are people who won’t be out any time soon, who may never be out, who may be living their last days in the hospital.”

And that’s a lesson we can all learn as we head into the new year.