On tonight’s episode of 19 Kids and Counting Michelle Duggar is finally able to hold tiny Josie, who weighed 1 lb., 6 oz. when she was born at just 25 weeks.

“Momma’s here. She looks so big to me,” Michelle, 43, coos to Josie, who is 47 days old and still hospitalized in the clip.

A nurse from the intensive care unit explains that Josie now weighs 2 lbs., 3 1/2 oz.

“She eats breast milk that mom has pumped and we have, and she gets it continuously at six milliliters an hour, which is about a teaspoon an hour,” the nurse says.

Before getting to hold her Michelle attempts to put a purple bow on her head, until she realizes that the tiny baby’s head IV is in the way.

Josie has “been very energetic,” Michelle says. “She’s going to have to be to keep up with everybody at home.”

“You look so beautiful, even without the bow,” Michelle says. “You’re just beautiful.”

Other Amazing Premature Babies:

• Tiny Baby Survives After Arriving Weighing Just 9 Ounces
  
• Ohio Baby Born At 22 Weeks Thriving At Toledo Hospital
  
• Jim and Michelle Duggar Show Off Baby Josie!

SOURCE

Emily Kaye Medema was born on January 11th 2005 at only 25 weeks weighing a mere 327 grams! At the time of birth the reason for her early arrival was not known. This is the case for most of us preemie moms.

Shortly after birth Emily was sent straight to the NICU and was not allowed to come out of her isolette for a week because of how of her size. When the nurse was finally able to take her out to be weighed she was so small at 11.7 ounces and 10 inches long they gave her parents a 5% chance of survival.

Although Emily arrived at 25 weeks she was more the size of a 22 week old baby. Her parents and doctors believe her feistyness probably contributed to her being able to survive being so tiny.

At a month old Emily developed Necrotizing Enterocolitis (NEC) – A serious condition that involves inflammation, infection, and destruction of the bowel or parts of the bowel which can, in some cases, lead to death. This condition primarily affects premature infants. She was then transported to the area children’s hospital to have surgery done.

We got there to find the doctors fighting amongst themselves as they did not want to do the surgery because her chances of surviving the surgery were only at 3%. I looked at them and said “if you don’t do the surgery her chances are 0% I would take that three percent over zero any day.”

By the time doctors got to the infection it was so bad her intestine had liquefied. When the surgery was finally complete they were just flabbergasted because this little 11.7 ounces miracle made it through with flying colors and with no complications at all. Today, she has a colostomy-a surgical operation that creates an opening from the colon to the surface of the body to function as an anus.

Emily spent about a month at the Children’s hospital and then was transferred back to the hospital she was born at where she stayed until she was sent back once again to have more surgery. This time she had two hernias that needed to be taken care of and needed the resection of her intestine done.

The one thing Emily did not have, and everyone was truly amazed with, was a brain bleed, which they were thankful for!

She is truly a very Amazing little girl. No matter what was thrown in her path she fought it with all she had.

After spending a total of 137 days in the NICU, Emily was released home on oxygen and a heart monitor. She is still on Oxygen 24 hours a day due to her Chronic Lung Disease.

As for lasting effects, Emily had ROP “Retinopathy of prematurity”-an abnormal growth of blood vessels in the developing eye that can lead to problems with vision or a loss of vision. Amazingly, it has actually reversed on its own, however, she is showing signs of nearsightedness.

Because she on a ventilator for so long after birth, Emily has Chronic Lung Disease(CLD), inflammation and scarring in the lungs. Doctors had hoped she would grow out of this by the time she was 6 months, but she is now 5 years old and still in need of help breathing. As she gets bigger her lungs will grow new tissue, which should help them get stronger. Also associated with her CLD is Pulmonary Hypertension- Abnormally high blood pressure in the arteries of the lungs. For Emily this will also improve as her lungs grow stronger.

Additionally, Emily was also born with an atrial septal defect which is an abnormal opening between the left and right atria of the heart. She still has this heart defect and they cannot close it until her other medical issues associated with her CLD and PH get better.

At 5 years old, this amazing little girl weighs only 26.5lbs and is considered to have a growth failure called Failure to Thrive (FTT). To help with this she has a g-tube (a feeding tube) to give her extra nutrition. The doctors have said she may be small for the rest of her life.

As well as having Emily in 05′, mom had a stillbirth back in 2002 and another micropreemie in 2008 who will be featured this week as well!

I asked for one piece of advice and this is what she said:

Don’t ever be afraid to ask all the questions in the world . If you don’t understand what they are telling you tell them to explain in terms you can understand. Doctors tend to forget we are not medical personal and we don’t understand all their medical language.

I also asked mom to describe Emily in one word and she said “MIRACLE” and we agree! – Shannon, Staff Writer

Other Amazing Babies:

• Tiny Baby Survives After Arriving Weighing Just 9 Ounces
• Born Too Early: Meet 24 Weeker Catherine!
• Ohio Baby Born At 22 Weeks Thriving At Toledo Hospital
• Jim and Michelle Duggar Show Off Baby Josie!

German doctors have revealed photographs of the smallest premature baby boy to have survived against incredible odds after being born at 25 weeks weighing just over half a pound.

The baby, only known as “Tom Thumb” weighed a fraction over 9.7 ounces (275 grams) when he was born by Caesarean section 15 weeks prematurely at the University of Medicine at Göttingen in western Germany in June 2009.

Like most babies born at this gestation, he need 24 hours monitoring and was hooked up to feeding tubes, breathing tubes, a heart monitor, a catheter and a plethora of electronic devices to monitor every vital sign as he faced risks of cerebral hemorrhage or organ failure.

In December, the baby was finally pronounced “stable” after achieving a weight of 8.2lbs – considered an average birth weight in Germany.

Now, nine months after his birth, doctors have allowed the unnamed boy’s parents to take him home, after ruling that he is strong enough to survive outside of the hospital

Even though officials from the hospital said that, they have checked all available records of premature births worldwide, they were unable to find a viable birth of a boy at a lower weight, we covered a tiny baby last year who weighing 259gms.

Before this, Medical professionals believed that survival can not be achieved at birth weights below 350 grams (0.77 pounds)

Weighing just 1 ounce more, Amillia Taylor is still believed to have been the youngest surviving micro-preemie arriving at 21 weeks 6 days weighing 10ozs in Miami Florida.

Other Amazing Preemies:

• World’s Smallest Baby Almost Ready To Go Home
  
• Born Too Early: Meet 24 Weeker Catherine!
• Born Too Early: Meet 23 Weeker Amelia Pearl
• NICU Nurse and Preemie Mommy Talks To Us About Her Experience With Premature Babies

SOURCE

It has been 7 weeks since Josie Duggar’s dramatic entrance into the world. Arriving at 25 weeks gestation, weighing just 1lb. 6 ozs, the tiniest Duggar remains in intensive care at Arkansas Children’s Hospital to grow and develop.

In an exclusive interview with People Magazine parents Jim Bob and Michelle Duggar talk about their journey, Josie’s progress and her arrival, which will be showcased in 19 Kids and Counting: Special Duggar Delivery, airing Jan. 31 on TLC

“Years ago, a baby this small wouldn’t have lived an hour,” says Jim Bob, 44. “We are so grateful for the ability to help her.”

Just before Christmas Jim and Michelle, 43, moved 17 of their other kids (their oldest Josh, 21, and his wife, Anna, 21, have a baby girl and live on their own) to Little Rock, Ark. from their home in Tontitown, Ark., to be closer to Josie.

“It’s a miracle she’s doing so well,” says Jim Bob. Agrees Michelle: “It is incredible what the doctors and nurses can do to save the life of this little person.”

It has been an up and down saga of survival for tiny Josie. “Doctors tell us, ‘never trust a preemie,’ because you can’t know what is going to happen,” says Jim Bob. “It is a very day-to-day thing. It is the hardest thing we’ve ever been through.”

Josie’s difficult birth has brought the family closer together, say Jim Bob and Michelle, and they continue to be grateful for every moment they have with their new daughter.

“We don’t know if there is going to be another big hill to go up,” she says. “We are grateful for the wonderful days when she has been good. We know at any moment, things could change.”

For now, Josie is doing well, weighing in at 2 lbs. 3 oz. She is taking breast milk by feeding tube and appears to only need regular oxygen to breathe.

We look forward to seeing her birth on Sunday night!

Related Articles:

• Prematurity Awareness Month – 20 Families Us Tell Their Story
• World’s Smallest Baby Almost Ready To Go Home
• Michelle Duggar Has Baby 19: Emergency C-Section To Premature Girl Josie

November is Prematurity Awareness Month. In honor of this, some parents who have had babies prematurely have offered to tell their stories to create awareness about his important cause.

Our seventeenth profile is on a little sweet guy named Aaron.

Aaron was born on March 3rd 2008 at exactly 25 weeks. At 20 weeks, mom Kori went in for a routine level 2 ultrasound, where it was luckily discovered that my cervix was “funneling.” (Opening from the inside but not quite yet open externally.) An emergent vaginal cerclage was placed at 20w/2d and partial bedrest followed. The cerclage did its job until 24w/0d when she started contracting, likely due to infection. Kori’s water broke at 25w and the baby was delivered due to infection risk. After delivery, she was officially diagnosed with Chorioamnionitis, infection of the fetal membranes.

At birth, Aaron weighed in at 940 grams. Aaron was diagnosed with BPD (bronchopulmonary dysplasia) and required mechanical ventilation for 7 weeks-both high-frequency and traditional ventilators. He then went to CPAP for 2 weeks, and finally high-flo/regular cannula for two weeks. When they were discharged, we had “standby” oxygen and a pulse oximeter at home, but never needed to provide supplemental O2.

Aaron’s first brain ultrasound showed minor bleeding, IVH grade I. This status remained stable, until the bleed resolved on its own without any visible damage. He had multiple surgeries: 1) broviac placement, NEC (an acute inflammatory disease occurring in the intestines) diagnosis requiring penrose drain placement (a surgical device placed in a wound to drain fluid) 2) exploratory laparotomy which did NOT result in ostomy (surgical procedure that creates an artificial opening for the elimination of bodily wastes) because the perforation had spontaneously & miraculously healed, 3) PDA (patent ductus artieous) ligation, 4) ROP (Retinopathy of prematurity) Stage 3 with Plus disease laser treatment, 5) Bilateral inguinal hernia repair, broviac removal.

Like most preemies, he had multiple infections, blood transfusions and more pharmaceuticals than my grandmother has had in her whole life!

There was one weekend, Easter 2008, when they nearly lost him. He was only 2 weeks old, or 27 weeks gestation. Aaron had just had his PDA ligation and his lungs were in really bad shape. If mom remembers correctly, his blood gas CO2 (carbon dioxide) levels were over 100. They say after PDA ligation, most preemies do worse before they get better. This was definitely true in Aaron’s case!

Aaron was in the NICU for 100 days before coming home. Aaron has met milestones within the “typical” range for his adjusted age. He sat up at 6 months adjusted, crawled at 9 months adjusted, began walking at 13 months adjusted.

Aaron is now 20 months old. He is still testing nearer to his adjusted age (16 months), with some skills scattered between adjusted and actual ages. Aaron receives OT, PT and Speech two times per month. He is still wobbly/clumsy when walking (after nearly 4 months of practice). The PT/OT therapists continue to work on strengthening and lengthening his muscles; balance and coordination are their primary focus.

Expressive speech is his biggest challenge currently. Aaron has very few words – maybe 10 approximations – but no clear pronunciations yet.

Feeding has not been a problem for Aaron. He will eat nearly anything I give him and has not had any allergic reactions. Sensory-wise, he seems to no big problems. Aaron has some fear/aversion (there was no way he was going underneath the parachute at Gymboree class!), but nothing outside of the typical range.

If Kori had one piece of advice for a new preemie mom, it would be this: While in the NICU, be your child’s advocate. Be present as much as possible. Act as another member of your child’s care team: Doctor, Nurse, Parent.

Once you are home, begin to work on relaxing. I was concerned about caring for my fragile baby, working the medical equipment, administering meds around the clock and growing / developing this new human being. Preemie child care can be overwhelming, but with the proper support you CAN do it.

I asked Kori to describe Aaron in one word and she said “CURIOUS.”

If you would like to read more about this Curious boy then you can go here to Aaron Marucco Aldrich. Mom said the blog is not current but you can read about his past days.

November is Prematurity Awareness Month. In honor of this, some parents who have had babies prematurely have offered to tell their stories to create awareness about his important cause.

Our sixteenth profile is that of gorgeous twins Addison and Riley.

Addison and Riley were born on June 17th 2008 at 25 weeks 4 days. Mom Lindsey does not know why they were born early.

At birth, Addison weighed 1lb 5oz and Riley weighed 1lb 3oz. They were both immediately put on ventilators and to prevent their skin from breaking down, they were also placed in a warming bed that was covered with plastic wrap and had a humidifier. They were moved to an isolette about a week after birth and they remained in those until a few days before coming home.

Both Addison and Riley remained on a ventilator for 5 weeks and then were gradually moved down to a CPAP (Continuous Positive Airway Pressure), then to a high flow nasal cannula (high flow means there was added moisture to prevent drying out the nostrils), and then to a regular nasal cannula.

Each had multiple brain scans to check for brain bleeds, ultrasounds to check the intestines and heart, x-rays to check for lung issues, digestive problems, location of breathing tube, blood work as often as 3 times a day, IV lines placed every 2-4 days, and numerous blood transfusions.

Riley had issues with a partially collapsed lung and developed an infection that required weeks of antibiotics.

Addison and Riley both had eye exams to track the effects of long term oxygen exposure and even received physical therapy during the last few weeks of their stay. Mom said they had a scary but pretty smooth ride in the NICU.

Addison was in the NICU for 81 days before coming home and Riley followed after 87 days.

As for any lasting effects, they are very small for their age and developmentally delayed. They receive physical, occupational, and speech therapy once a week to help them catch up.

Addison and Riley have an older brother Skylar who is eight years old that was born 8 weeks early. They also have a big sister Leah, who is five that was born at full term.

If Lindsey had one piece of advice for a new preemie mom, it would be this: Don’t use google! Try to find a group specifically for preemies so that you will have someone to talk to who will what to say and, more importantly, what not to say.

I asked Lindsey to describe her kids in one word and she said “AMAZING AND INSPIRING.”

If you would like to read more about these two amazing and inspiring kids, you can go here to Addison & Riley’s Journey

November is Prematurity Awareness Month. In honor of this, some parents who have had babies prematurely have offered to tell their stories to create awareness about his important cause.

Our twelfth profile is of a little guy named Tyler Kenneth Brown.

Tyler was born on September 21st 2005 at 25 weeks and 3 days. Mom Nancy does not know why Tyler was born early. She said that neither Tyler or herself had any infections after delivery, but she did have a perinatlogist say it was an incompetent cervix.

At birth, Tyler weighed in at 1 pound 11 ounces. His NICU story was some what uneventful. Most of the events are the after math of preemiehood. Tyler was born in a hospital that was not equipped for a preemie with issues let alone a preemie as early as Tyler. They were life flighted as soon as he was born. Dad Dallas saw his little body off on a helicopter and followed in the car.

Tyler had a PDA (Patent ductus arteriosus) done at three days. The doctors had wanted to get it closed because his brain was bleeding. Mom says they didn’t have the luxury of waiting to see if it would happen on his own. His surgery went well. He did have a grade four bleed on one side and a three on the other. After about 30 days and an up and down of his head growing too much they transferred us to yet another hospital to have brain surgery. He had a reservoir placed after a month in the NICU. Mom said they ended up with the greatest care and found a great team of doctors at this very hospital.

Ty had one seizure after his NICU reservoir placement and hasn’t had one since. Mom is always on pins and needles with it. Tyler was not shunted after the reservoir placement but he did end up with a shunt later. He was on the vent for about 63 days. He had a hard time getting off. He really was kind of lazy. Tyler came home on oxygen but was weaned pretty fast.

Right before mom and dad were ready to bring Tyler home, he had a bad ROP (retinopathy of prematurity –a disease of the eyes) exam. He needed surgery FAST. Tyler had ROP surgery within 72 hours of finding how severe it was. It saved his eyesight but he does still has poor vision. He was pretty fast bouncing back. Tyler was off the vent quickly and on to growing.

Tyler spent 93 days total in the NICU before coming home on December 23rd. Some of the ups and downs happened fast after the NICU. Mom and dad brought him home a day before his due date. He was just under six pounds. In January he was diagnosed with craniosynostosis (a medical condition in which some or all of the sutures in the skull of an infant or child close too early, causing problems with normal brain and skull growth) and had to have surgery on February 14th. The doctors took out his reservoir at that point.

In April he got really sick and almost died. Doctors found out he was in need of a shunt. His bones had grown back and he didn’t have enough space for his brain to expand and he was sick. An emergency shunt was placed in April. Tyler screamed for an entire month and a nice doctor took pity on me and said he needed a shunt revision. Once he had the new shunt placed, he did awesome. One year after his first skull surgery Tyler had to have another one. This one was a total skull reconstruction. He did amazing well. He bounced back quickly and for that mom is very grateful.

In Tyler’s second year, he had very little downs. At the end of year two he was diagnosed with stage two cerebral palsy and he was and is walking on his own. Tyler is a good gimpy walker and has so much energy. Tyler is in preschool and is doing very well with that.

Currently he is being evaluated for Sensory processing disorder and he has his own issues. In September of 2008 Tyler had a shunt malfunction from a recalled shunt. They fixed it right before his 3rd birthday. Six months later, in February of 2009 Tyler had another malfunction and his tubing had broken. Mom is on edge because they are just six months out from the last surgery.

As for other children, mom Nancy and her husband Dallas have tried but were unable to get pregnant. They are really not sure however that they want more children or as she says, more correctly they aren’t sure to dare go through what they have with Tyler. They love him but it is very hard.

If Nancy had one piece of advice for a new preemie mom, it would be this: Keep going. You will always doubt your choices but do what you feel is right and keep your chin up. You will never feel you did enough or loved enough or whatever. BUT you are doing what is best. You are the mom.

I asked Nancy to describe Tyler in one word and she said “FUNNY”.

If you would like to read more about Tyler, go here to Miracles Happen

Other Amazing Preemies:

• Preemie Profile: 25 Weeker Maggie Grace
  
• Preemie Profile: 24 Week Twins Bryce and Chloe
  
• Preemie Profile: 29 Weeker Charlotte
  
• Preemie Profile: 26 Weeker Emery

November is Prematurity Awareness Month. In honor of this, some parents who have had babies prematurely have offered to tell their stories to create awareness about his important cause.

Our tenth profile is of a little beauty named Margaret “Maggie” Grace.

Maggie was born on August 25th 2005 at 25 weeks 2 days. Mom Dana had extremely low amniotic fluid. Maggie was also an IUGR (IntraUterine Growth Retardation) baby. Dana had developed severe pre-eclampsia (a condition characterized by pregnancy-induced high blood pressure, protein in the urine, and swelling (edema) due to fluid retention), which turned to HELLP syndrome (a complication of severe preeclampsia).

Maggie at birth weighed only 15 ounces which is about 425 grams. She was in three NICU’s. The first one she was in for two days, the second one for a week and then the last one for four and a half months. Maggie was born right before Hurricane Katrina and was evacuated from New Orleans to Baton Rouge. Mom and dad did not see her for a week as they were in one hospital and she was in another.

Overall it was a rough four and a half months. Maggie was on and off of the vent and had many infections through her stay and almost didn’t make it several times. There were many nights spent sleeping in the NICU waiting room praying that no one would come tell mom and dad any bad news.

While there we met many people in the same situation. One was a family who lost their preemie four months after she was born. That was hard as Maggie was in the isolette right next to her and when Maggie had ups this little one had downs and vice versa.

Maggie had a fundoplication (a surgical operation for gastro-oesophageal reflux disease in which the upper part of the stomach is wrapped around the lower esophagus) done along with a gastrostomy (A method to facilitate feeding in which a tube is surgically placed directly into the stomach, through the abdominal wall) while in the NICU. Maggie did nipple feed for a while but it was not going great and she suffered from aspiration (milk entering into the lungs) and the doctors felt this was the best option for her at the time. We had some of the best doctors and nurses we could ask for while in the NICU, who made the whole ordeal easier for us.

Mom and dad had clothes and blankets for Maggie made by volunteers and she always had decorations in her corner and on her isolette for every occasion. Mom and dad wanted to make it as close to home as they could. They found out after a month that by playing music-Disney Princess instrumentals in fact-from a CD player, it would calm her down and help her oxygen saturations.

All in all Maggie’s stay was a roller coaster. Ride up and down with the twists and turns. Thankfully this little fighter made it home safe and sound! The technology they have today is amazing and just miraculous in moms opinion!

As for lasting effects from her prematurity, Maggie is little but that is basically all. She had her feeding tube removed in May of 2009 and now eats by mouth. She has great vision and hearing and no other delays except for needing some speech therapy in school as she can not say some letters that well. Mom feels very blessed.

If Dana had one piece of advice for a new preemie mom, it would be this: Have Faith. Do what feels right to you and know that these babies are some of the strongest fighters ever!

I asked Dana to describe Maggie in one word and she said “AMAZING.”

What an ordeal with the NICUs! She sure is an amazing child!

November is Prematurity Awareness Month. In honor of this, some parents who have had babies prematurely have offered to tell their stories to create awareness about his important cause.

Our seventh profile is of a beautiful little girl named Elizabeth.

Elizabeth was born on December 17th 2004 at 25 weeks and 3 days. Mom Angela does not know why Elizabeth entered this world to soon, as most of us never find out. Angela said she was working night shift as a Registered Nurse and after assisting with lifting a patient she started bleeding. She did have early Braxton Hicks and back pain and these symptoms were brought to my OB’s attention but he was not concerned.

When Elizabeth was born she weighed 730 grams. Her NICU stay was rocky in the beginning. Elizabeth’s PDA (patent ductus arteriosus) did not close with the standard medication and the wait for surgical closure was long. It was awful because she was having great difficulty being ventilated and was becoming septic and running out of reserve.

For a 25 weeker Elizabeth had a fairly standard NICU course. She suffered life threatening reflux and her heart rate would drop with each feed. She had extensive BPD (bronchopulmonary dysplasia) and was difficult to get off ventilator support. Once Elizabeth became more stable things became more routine as she grew. Angela would go up to the NICU everyday for the day. She would sing to her, read to her and when she was stable they would have kangaroo time where she was tucked in my shirt skin to skin.

“I savoured every second cuddling with her”

In the evening her Dad would come and bath her and get her ready for bed.

“We were very blessed to be in an amazing NICU and I feel very strongly that without the dedicated knowledgeable staff Elizabeth would not have done as well as she has”.

After three and a half months, Elizabeth was able to go home. The most difficult time was 1-2 weeks before she came home because mom and dad so desperately wanted her to be home with them.

Elizabeth is definitely not unscathed by her prematurity. She was diagnosed with a hearing impairment at 4 months old and her reflux continued at home limiting her intake. She vomited constantly and this caused her to become aversive to eating. Elizabeth was on oxygen for a while at home due to her BPD and now continues to be prone to pneumonia and respiratory illnesses.

Elizabeth has Cerebral Palsy (an umbrella term encompassing a group of non-progressive, non-contagious conditions, caused by brain damage before birth or during infancy, characterized by impairment of muscular coordination.) She can walk independently but despite aggressive physiotherapy her gross motor skills are in the 17 month range. Her CP also affects her speech and fine motor skills. Elizabeth is an extremely smart little girl but issues with attention and learning are becoming more apparent as she is being challenged academically.

Elizabeth is an only child. Angela says they have put off having another child until Elizabeth is more independent. Currently Elizabeth sees many medical specialists and therapists to help her succeed and develop. Having another child at the present would take away from the time that Elizabeth needs from her parents. They are also trying to prepare that if they did have another preemie they would be able to devote as much attention to him/her as they have done for Elizabeth.

If Angela had some advice for a new preemie mom it would be this: PLAY with your child. Things can be very overwhelming with so many professionals telling how you should teach, hold and talk to your baby, you spend so much time stimulating your child and fretting that you haven’t done enough that you begin to doubt your ability to parent. Structured playtime is as just as important as teaching your child to sit and crawl and it is a great time to relax and have fun together.

I asked Angela to describe Elizabeth in one word and she said “DETERMINED.”

Angela is a personal friend of mine, and I can definitely agree that Elizabeth is a determined young girl. She is bright, beautiful and an inspiration!

If you would like to read more about Elizabeth you can go here to ELIZABETH ANN

Other Amazing Preemies:

• Preemie Profile: 26 Week Twins Brian & Rylan
• Preemie Profile: 25 Weeker Brianna Rose
• Preemie Profile: 26 Weeker Gavin

November is Prematurity Awareness Month. In honor of this, some parents who have had babies prematurely have offered to tell their stories to create awareness about his important cause.

Our fifth profile is of a sweet little girl named Brianna Rose.

Brianna was born on February 12th 2009 at 25 weeks and 1 day. Mom Melissa had severe preeclampsia that was rapidly progressing to HELLP syndrome. (Pre-eclampsia is a condition characterized by pregnancy-induced high blood pressure, protein in the urine, and swelling (edema) due to fluid retention. HELLP syndrome is a complication of severe preeclampsia.) It was a very scary situation and mom and dad were terrified that they would lose baby Brianna.

When Brianna was born she weighed only 586 grams. Brianna was always a fighter. Every nurse who worked with her described her as “feisty” and they believed that her feistiness helped keep her going strong.

During her NICU stay Brianna overcame numerous obstacles. She had PDA(Patent Ductus Arteriosus) ligation at 12 days, multiple blood transfusions, sepsis, infections, anemia, reflux, RDS (respiratory distress syndrome), BPD (brochopulmonary dysplasia) and ROP (Retinopathy of prematurity) stage 3, at its worst-which is now resolved.

Brianna seldom had bradycardia (low heart rate) but had a really difficult time keeping her oxygen sats up(apnea of prematurity). This was the last obstacle that Brianna had to overcome as she could not even pass the car seat test because her oxygen levels kept dropping. The doctors then decided to put her on caffeine which helped resolved her oxygen issues.

After 117 days in the NICU Brianna was able to go home. As for any lasting effects from her prematurity, mom Melissa thinks it just may be too early to tell. Melissa says that Brianna was fortunate compared to a lot of the babies she has read about. She escaped her NICU experience seemingly unscathed. Brianna still has anemia, reflux and BPD. She takes vitamins, medications and inhalers for these conditions.
Brianna is also on an apnea monitor at night but that is hopefully coming to an end later this month.

Developmentally, she is coming along well. Brianna is functioning right where she should be based on her adjusted age. As for size, she is rather small. She does not suffer from any feeding disorders but can only tolerate three ounces of milk/formula at a time. She is just now starting to try spoon feeding and she has been able to do that once successfully so far. Overall she is a very healthy and happy little girl, and she is the most amazing and magnificent child Melissa could imagine!

Melissa found the NICU experience very stressful. She says that you cannot truly understand that roller coaster ride unless you have been through it. They loved the hospital where they were and found the nurses very helpful and supportive. But despite that it was still very stressful and at times a traumatic experience. Even now, 9 months later, Melissa sometimes struggles. As most moms of preemies realize, the NICU experience doesn’t end when you walk out of the hospital with your baby. Of course they still have to be very cautious with Brianna. They can’t just take her out and about. She can’t go to the grocery store or department stores , to restaurants or even to work where Melissa could show her off. She has had exposure to extended family, but Brianna’s parents try to keep that to a minimum. The risk of her getting sick is just too high, given that her body didn’t have the same chance as full-term babies to fully develop an immune system.

If Melissa had one piece of advice for a new preemie mom it would be this: Take things one day at a time and celebrate all of the small victories.

I asked Melissa to describe Brianna in one word and she said “AMAZING”.

Brianna sure is an amazing child! And might I add cute as a button!!!

If you would like to read about Brianna, you visit her here at Brianna Rose Ganey

In July, we introduced you to Taylor Gardner. This amazing little girl was born at 25 weeks weighing just 540 grams.

A 19 week ultrasound revealed Taylor had a complete heart block found in 1 in 200,000 babies.

At that time her mother Rebecca Gardner was put on bedrest so that her pregnancy could be monitored.

“It was heart-wrenching, but I wanted her to survive because she is my 11th pregnancy and I only had one child,” Ms Gardner said.

Nine hours after she was born, doctors connected her tiny heart, which was half the size of a cherry, to an external pacemaker that was bigger than her entire body.

Although only a handful of premature babies in the world had ever been fitted with an external pacemaker, and none less than 750g, Dr Alex Veldman said surgeons had no other choice but to rewrite history.

Five months later, Taylor’s external pacemaker has been replaced with a permanent internal pacemaker and she has gained several kilograms, weighing a relatively healthy 2.7 kilograms.

The next steps for this miracle baby will be to withdraw her respiratory support and increase normal feeding so she can go home in coming months, he said.

Taylor’s mother, Rebecca Gardner, said she cried tears of happiness when she saw Taylor emerge from surgery last week without wires connected to her heart. Among other things, it meant she could hold her baby more freely.

”If she’s home for Christmas I’ve already told people that I will put a bow on her and put her under the Christmas tree. She will be my Christmas present.”

I am so happy for this family. I hope that the doctors are able to wean Taylor from the vent in time for her to be home for the Holidays.

It is amazing that she has been able to survive being born so early and having a heart condition. This is one determined little girl.

Related Articles:

• The 21 Week Controversy
  
• Couple Marvels At Their Amazing Baby Who Survived Despite Extreme Complications
• Amazing Micro-preemie Defies Odds By Surviving Without A Pancreas

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Exciting news in the North!

New York couple Bridgett Maskell and John Mistalski are the proud parents of 5 tiny little babies. The three girls and two boys arrived at just twenty five weeks gestation on Thursday afternoon at the at Women and Children’s Hospital in Buffalo.

The new mom was hoping to deliver the babies closer to her January due date. However on Thursday, “all of a sudden, my heart starting beating really, really fast and I couldn’t breathe then contraction, after contraction, so I knew she was going to deliver them,” said Maskell.

Dr. Stephanie Mann said a team was set up for each baby in the delivery room.

As for their prognosis, Dr. Mann said, “for 25 weekers, they’re actually doing as expected. All of the babies are on respiratory support.”

The largest baby weighs just under two pounds, the smallest is just shy of one pound.

Now that the size of the family has jumped from four to nine, the parents are scrambling to get necessary items like car seats and a vehicle to transport the entire family.

Bridget and John also have a set of twins at home.

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A tiny baby born girl in South Carolina has survived the first week of her life, despite overwhelming odds.

Dye’mon Dodd weighed only 10 ounces at birth and had a 30 percent chance of survival.

Her mother, Yolanda Austin, said, “She was a blessing. She still is a blessing because she’s my little miracle baby.”

The tiny infant’s footprint is barely bigger than a thumbnail. She weighed less than a can of soda and she is still less than 10 inches long.

Yolanda was diagnosed with pre-eclampsia, a potentially life-threatening disorder that causes high blood pressure, so she was forced to deliver the baby more than three months prematurely.

“God is on our side because if He wasn’t, He would have taken her way before now,” Austin said.

The family is just taking Dye’mon’s fight for life a day at a time, hoping that the miracle baby will continue to gain weight.

And they continue to stay hopeful about her future. The little fighter wasn’t due to arrive until December 27th.

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An Indian court on Monday rejected a woman’s petition to abort her 25-week-old fetus with a congenital heart problem, saying the law does not permit such late-term abortions.

Last month, Niketa Mehta, 31, her husband, Haresh, and their gynecologist, Dr. Nikhil Dattar, petitioned the court to allow an abortion.

During the 20 week ultrasound it was seen that the baby had a complete congenital heart blockage and malpositioned arteries that could, doctors say, require a pacemaker implantation soon after birth.

The couple’s lawyer, Amit Karkhanis, says they can’t afford to pay for the frequent change of pacemaker that the fetus’ condition would require.

The Mehtas, who found out after 24 weeks that the fetus had congenital heart disease, fear the quality of the child’s life would suffer, Karkhanis said.

But the Bombay High Court said that it was up to Parliament and not the court to change the provisions of Indian law, which specifies that a pregnancy cannot be terminated after 20 weeks unless the mother faces a medical risk.

Abortions are legal in India until the 12th week of pregnancy. Between 12 and 20 weeks abortions are allowed if either the mother or the fetus faces a health risk.

I have watching this story for over a week now wonder which way it was going go.

I know that when this baby arrives it’s spirit will make this couple forget all of the medical care he/she will need. Babies have a funny way of doing that.

*It is worth noting that a 25 week-old fetus has a 65% chance of survival out of the womb. This baby would be born with it’s eyes open and could possible take a breath on it’s own…It will be interesting to see how healthy the baby is when it arrives.*

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When Emma Young was born at 25 weeks weighing just 1lb 3oz, her parents faced weeks of agony when she repeatedly stopped breathing.

Amazingly, nurses and her mother Angela Young discovered that stroking the bottom of her feet appeared to jump-start her body and get her breathing again.

‘My daughter is alive thanks to her feet being tickled,’ said Mrs Young, 29, a human resources assistant who lives in Washington, Co Durham, with her husband Andrew, 28. ‘It really is a miracle that she is still with us.’

Because Emma was born so early her heart wasn’t fused together properly, so at six weeks old she had to have surgery to correct it.

Even thought the operation was a success, Emma was faced with another life-threatening problem afterwards – she would suddenly stop breathing dozens of times each day.

Mrs Young said: ‘The first time it happened Emma’s face went white and I thought we had lost her. But then the nurses leapt into action and tickled the soles of her feet.

‘Suddenly her little chest started to go up and down again.

‘The nurses told us that because she had been so premature, her body kept forgetting how to breathe.’

For another eight weeks Emma would stop breathing several times each day.

Each time Mrs Young would tickle her feet – which were the size of a postage stamp – to stimulate her body again and start her breathing.

The little fighter still gets her feet tickled now, but it’s just to make her laugh, and there’s no better sound in the world for her parents than her giggling.

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