When a 5-month-old baby exceeded all expectations and returned home with her family earlier this week, she became the world’s tiniest living being.
In order to protect the anonymity of the family, the hospital has been referring to the miracle child as Saybie.
She was born at just 23 weeks and 3 days after conception when tests revealed that her mother’s blood pressure was abnormally high.
For comparison, a child is typically born at 40 weeks; however, Saybie and her mother would have been in danger if the pregnancy had been allowed to continue.
Saybie’s parents were informed by medical professionals at Sharp Mary Birch Hospital in San Diego,
California, that Saybie would probably only survive an hour after her emergency C-section delivery.
The woman was heard saying, ‘But that hour turned into two hours, which turned into a day, which turned into a week,’ in a hospital video.
Saybie was a micro-preemie who weighed just 8.6 ounces (254 grams), the equivalent of a little apple.
She weighed 7 grams less than the preceding infant to formally break the record in 2015, according to the University of Iowa’s official Tiniest Baby Registry.
Saybie seldom ever encountered any of the medical problems normally experienced by micro-preemies, which can include brain bleeds,
lung and heart problems, and other life-threatening conditions. As a result, their survival rates are significantly reduced.
Saybie has now been released home with her family after spending five months in the hospital’s intensive care unit after her birth in December. Her send-off was emotional.
A NICU nurse added, ‘I just want her to know how strong she is. ‘I mean, there’s nothing she can’t do if she can start off where she was and do as well as she can be.’
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