15-Ounce Preemie Nearly Ready to Go Home, Tilts Scales at 4 Pounds
A girl who weighed just 15 1/2 ounces when she was born 17 weeks prematurely four months ago weighed in at just under 4 pounds Friday, the day she would have been born had she gone full term.
Ashley Cunningham, daughter of Deborah Cunningham of Coon Rapids, is expected to be able to go home in about two weeks, said Dr. Ronald Hoekstra, a neonatologist at Children’s Medical Center in Minneapolis.
“She’s really a little miracle,” said Deborah Blair, one of the nurses who has cared for Ashley since her birth.
Hoekstra said Ashley seems to have avoided some of the side effects that often affect premature infants. She has not experienced any hemorrhaging in her brain or problems with her eyesight, two common problems. She also does not appear to have any serious breathing problems after being on a respirator for 77 days.
Her skin has developed and will protect her from infection, Hoekstra said.
The smallest premature infant to survive in the United States weighed 15 ounces, Hoekstra said.
Hoekstra said Ashley’s progress will be monitored by doctors periodically until she is 7 years old but that it appears she will live a normal, healthy life.
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