All preemies have more than their share of obstacles to overcome, but the smaller and more premature a baby is, the more they must fight to survive. Harley Gulliksen’s parents know this better than most.
For middle school sweethearts, Gina and Matt Berrios, parenting is very different. They spend their days and nights hoping and praying for a miracle. They find strength in the little things. And as they watch their son, Maxwell, fight for his life, they are reminded that it’s those little things that make life worth living.
Pregnant with her third child, Claire Ives was relaxing at home, listening to her son’s heartbeat with a handheld device. When she turned the device on, the thought, at first, she’d been using it wrong. But the London nurse would soon learn that what she was hearing was a serious condition that could have cost her son his life.
Like most parents, Kelsea and Andy Hoskins were excited about the impending arrival of their first baby. But during Kelsea’s fifth month of pregnancy, the couple received some alarming news; their son had a potentially serious birth defect known as omphalocele, a condition in which the organs form outside of the body.
Though Nadine Young’s most recent break up had been an amicable one, it left her single and without a child. Rather than attempt another relationship and possibly risk the chances of not having a child, Nadine decided it would be best to pursue parenting on her own. Little did she know, that decision would take her on a stressful, scary, but beautiful journey.
Emily Keicher is like most three-year-olds; she loves taking pictures, dancing, and making snowmen. She’s full of energy, has a smile that will warm your heart, and she’s adorable. All that cuteness can be seen on the cover of Parent’s Magazine’s February edition. Like most parents would be, Emily’s parents are filled with pride.
Like most expectant parents, Marie and Steven Hartley were excited about welcoming their child into the world. Born at 8 pounds, 5 ounces, their daughter, Caitlin, appeared the adorable epitome of health, but doctors would soon learn that this beautiful bundle of joy had a rare but serious heart condition.
Stevie Simpson was 34 weeks pregnant when doctors first became concerned that there might be an issue. During her initial scan, doctors could see that the baby’s arms and legs were shorter than they should be. This caused them to believe, initially, that their little girl suffered from dwarfism.
To conceive quadruplets naturally, you have to beat one in 700,000 odds. Shontae Minor, 22, and Khristian Rohena, 34, one-upped those odds after naturally conceiving and giving birth to quads, despite the fact that Khristian had been diagnosed with a medical condition should have prevented him from being able to conceive children.
Six-month-old Gabriel Blaney was thrown 25 feet from his mother’s car on Thursday night when the car failed to stop at a stop sign. What could have ended in a heartbreaking tragedy ended up being a miraculous story that defies all odds.
In the UK, infants born below one pound or before 23 weeks gestation are not considered “viable,” which just basically means that health care professionals will not provide care because of the risk of mortality and limited quality of life. Cutoffs like this are not uncommon. In fact, most countries have limitations like this in place.
Still attached to his mother, an infant recently received a very rare, life-saving surgery at the Sheba Medical Center; the surgery is so rare, in fact, that it has only been done a handful of times, all in major Western hospitals. But the surgery saved the infant’s life, and he and his mother are both reportedly doing well.
A tiny baby girl is lucky to be alive after she was found inside of a dumpster in China’s Liaoning province, her umbilical cord still attached, by a man who was looking for recyclables. Her throat was slit and she was placed inside of a plastic bag.
