CHARLOTTE, N.C. -- Born three months premature at 10 ounces and 10-inches long, baby E’layah Faith is the smallest surviving baby born at Carolinas Medical Center, and one of the smallest surviving babies ever born anywhere in the world.
Tuesday would have been her due date, and to celebrate her medical team took a moment to congratulate her parents and reflect on this milestone.
"I was scared because she was so little," Said E-layah's mother, Megan Smith. "They had this mask on her for the oxygen, and her face was covered-- it weighed more than her."
High blood pressure was threatening both the mother and child, forcing her into an emergency C-Section birth.
To help keep E-layah breathing and growing, her medical team provided a special incubator with oxygen and intravenous nutrition until her body was finally ready for the outside world.
"We trickled in a tiny bit of breast milk," said Dr. Andrew Herman with Levine Children's Hospital. "It's our job to get them to grow as quickly as we can, as safely as we can."
Now ready to come home in a few days, mother Megan is grateful for her care.
"She's been in the hospital for three months, and to know that she could be coming home in a week or two is very exciting," Smith said.
Source: usatoday.com
Photo: med-practic.com