Most Popular Videos Featured On KDKA.com
May 29, 2009 9:04 pm US/Eastern
Tiny Baby Beats Odds At Magee Women's Hospital
PITTSBURGH (KDKA) ―
-
-
Taylor Maree arrived by C-section on March 12 at 10:29 a.m. against all odds.
KDKA
What weighs less than a pound - fits in the palm of your hand - and will ask for the car keys some day?
The tiniest surviving baby ever born at Magee-Women's Hospital.
Once upon a time, about 12 weeks ago, a baby was born at Magee-Women's Hospital.
"When she popped out they were really astounded at how tiny she was," according to the NICU's director, Dr. Jennifer Kloesz.
She is the tiniest preemie ever to survive at the hospital - a real life fairy tale "Thumbelina."
"[She weighed] 350 grams which is almost 12 ounces, so that we called her the size of a pop can," Kloesz said.
Doctors could hardly believe their eyes.
"If you look at one of her parent's wedding rings and put that on her it would fit easily over her entire arm and probably would have fit easily over her entire leg," Kloesz said.
Taylor Maree arrived by C-section on March 12 at 10:29 a.m. against all odds says her mom, Brittany Rideout of Penn Hills.
"She survived. I was really scared," she said. "I said, 'She's a little fighter,' I thought, 'She's a fighter.'"
Her daddy, Adam Bouchat, who's a librarian, took pictures of her birth.
"They whisked her away the second she was born. We got to see her for maybe two or three seconds before they said they had to get her into intensive care," he recalled.
Taylor Maree's 23-year-old mom, Brittany Rideout, of Penn Hills, had a host of serious health issues during her pregnancy, including two strokes, a heart attack, lupus and preeclampsia.
Brittany believes her child is destined for something special.
It was the lupus attacking the placenta that forced the birth at 26 weeks.
"She simply had to be delivered when she was delivered," the doctor said.
Adam is finally getting used to his daughter's size but she's now a hefty smidgeon over two pounds 14 ounces.
"This is normal to me. It's also when I see a regular-sized baby they look so huge to me," he said.
But except for her small size, everything works perfectly.
"We'd expect her growth to lag behind, maybe for the first couple of years of life - but from everything that we can tell developmentally she looks like she's right on track," the doctor said.
It'll be a little longer before Brittany and Adam can take their baby girl home, but life together is looking a whole lot like a "happily ever after."
Taylor Maree's dad says there's no doubt.
"I think it's gonna be awesome."
(© MMX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
Latest 5-Day Forecast
Click to enlarge
Stumble It!
Reporting
Comments