{"id":306070,"date":"2024-02-02T06:44:11","date_gmt":"2024-02-02T12:44:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.liveaction.org\/news\/?p=306070"},"modified":"2024-01-31T14:09:51","modified_gmt":"2024-01-31T20:09:51","slug":"premature-baby-pound-12-seven-months","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/premature-baby-pound-12-seven-months\/","title":{"rendered":"Premature baby goes from under a pound to 12 pounds in seven months"},"content":{"rendered":"
<\/div>

(Right to Life UK<\/a>) A baby girl born before 26 weeks who weighed less than a pound is making amazing progress, now weighing 12 pounds.<\/p>\n

Ellyannah Lopez was\u00a0described<\/a>\u00a0by her mother Cecia as \u201cnothing short of a miracle\u201d, as her parents had tried for eight years to have a child. However, at 20 weeks gestation, Ellyannah was not receiving nutrients through the umbilical cord, and her mother\u2019s blood pressure was very high. Ellyannah was therefore delivered early, before 26 weeks.<\/p>\n

At less than a pound, she was one of the smallest babies that medical staff at the Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles had ever seen.<\/p>\n

In spite of being so tiny, Ellyannah fought for life<\/strong><\/p>\n

When she was born, she was so frail that her parents were unable to hold her for 54 days. Her mother\u00a0said<\/a> \u201cShe was born so small that no one, none of the doctors in that operating room thought that she would cry. And when she did, I could hear everybody saying, \u2018Is that[,] is that her?’\u201d<\/p>\n

Dr Seth Langston, who works at Cedar-Sinai Guerin Children\u2019s,\u00a0said<\/a>\u00a0\u201cLess than probably 1% of all births are delivered before 26 weeks. Most challenging for babies this early and this small to deal with are immature lungs, and therefore relying a lot on breathing support\u201d.<\/p>\n

Ellyannah was the first baby at the hospital to use a jet, which is a high-frequency ventilator.<\/p>\n

Ellynnah is now seven months old and remains in hospital.<\/p>\n

Dr Langston\u00a0said<\/a>\u00a0\u201cShe still has a long way to go. You know, she\u2019s still working on her breathing. She also has to figure out how to eat\u201d. But her parents say that they can see the light at the end of the tunnel.<\/p>\n