Baby Amellia

I'm in awe at this baby. I know most of you have seen the story on the news about the little 10 oz (that's just over 1/2 of a pound!) baby that was born in November and released from the hospital yesterday after only 4.5 months. AMAZING.

She was just a tiny bit bigger than a BALL POINT PEN! Modern medicine is an amazing thing. I remember so clearly the day after we were admitted to the hospital at 23 weeks (the 2nd time) and a NICU nurse came to talk to us. At that time, we were just trying to make it to the viability mark of 24 weeks. She told us all of the dirty details about what preemies go through. She outlined the common problems, the statistics for survival, the most likely outcomes for our children at various gestational ages and what we should expect. She was right on. One thing that she told us that I will never forget is that white males are the weakest preemies. They nickname them "wimpy white boys". African American Females are the strongest preemies. Hence, Baby Amellia above, who defied all odds and is the youngest baby EVER to survive. Again, it's AMAZING. This baby only stayed in NICU for a little over 4 months. Heck, Cole was there for 3 months, and was two and a half times her size. And her prognosis for the future is bright - no glaringly obvious problems. What a miracle.

I've been so intrigued by this story and am so thankful that she is going to be alright. Another interesting comment made by our initial NICU consult nurse (who later became our favorite Nurse practitioner on the NICU staff) was that there is a lot of controversy out there now amongst hospitals with regard to preemies. It seems as though they are saving so many babies now at such young ages and many people feel that it is a disservice in a way since many of the "micro-preemies" have such difficulties later in life. They are unsure what to do about this since anyone in neonatology is obviously challenged by young babies and they strive to save any baby that they can. They will take "extreme life saving measures" as they call it, to give any baby a chance. Some would say "at what expense"? It's certainly a point to ponder. But I will say, as a NICU parent, I would have told them to do anything they could to save my babies, no matter what. And they did. I now have my two little miracles, one of which that they didn't think would make it. I look at him in amazement today at how far he has come. They are thriving now.

I'll never be able to thank the doctors, nurses and staff enough, who cared for my kids 24/7 and brought them into this world. And I'm sure Amellia's Mom is saying the same thing!