Throughout your pregnancy your growing baby is often compared to fruit to illustrate it’s size. When the world’s smallest baby was born in a San Diego hospital it was the size of an apple.
The Sharp Mary Birch Hospital for Women & Newborns has announced the birth of a baby girl who was just 8.6 ounces when she was born in December. She was born just 23 weeks and three days into her mom’s pregnancy and is beloved to be the world’s smallest surviving micro-preemie.
photo: Rawpixel via Unsplash
Doctors didn’t have much hope for the baby after she was born, telling her parents that she likely wouldn’t survive more than an hour. That hour turned into more than five months and the healthy baby has just made her way home weighing five pounds.
The baby, which the nurses nicknamed “Saybie” was delivered early after her mom was diagnosed with preeclampsia. She spent the next several months in the neonatal intensive unit steadily growing. A sign on her crib read “Tiny but Mighty.” As a micro-preemie the baby still has a long road ahead as she continues to grow, but clearly she’s a fighter. “She’s a miracle, that’s for sure,” said nurse Kim Norby.
—Shahrzad Warkentin
RELATED STORIES
This iPad App Helps Babies Come Home Sooner from the NICU
These Wireless Monitors Could Revolutionize Life in the NICU
This Innovative Pacifier Could Shorten NICU Stays for Preemies, Study Finds
