World's smallest baby goes home after 5 months in ICU

By Umar Farooq

WASHINGTON (AA) - The world's smallest baby has been discharged from a U.S. hospital after spending five months in its intensive care unit (ICU).

When Saybie was born in December, she weighed 245 grams (8.6 ounces), roughly the weight of a large apple. Doctors considered her a "micro preemie" -- a baby born before 28 weeks of pregnancy.

The baby was delivered by cesarean section after the mother faced a number of complications during the pregnancy, including very high blood pressure.

"It was the scariest day of my life," Saybie's mother said in a video released by the hospital. "I just felt very uncomfortable, and I thought, maybe this was part of the pregnancy."

After being born, doctors told the parents the baby would have about an hour left to live. However, that "hour turned into two hours, which turned into a day, which turned into a week”, said her mother.

The baby seemed to face none of the problems associated with premature births.

"Saybie experienced virtually none of the medical challenges typically associated with micro preemies, which can include brain bleeds and lung and heart issues," the Sharp Mary Birch Hospital for Women & Newborns in San Diego, California, where Saybie was born, said in a press release Wednesday.

Now she will be heading home weighing 5.6 pounds and measuring 16 inches in length, growing 5 inches since birth.

Saybie is not the name given to the baby by her family. It was what the hospital staff called her during her time in intensive care. The baby's family allowed her story to be shared but did not release her real name.

"Even now I think about her," said nurse Kim Nogby. "She's a miracle. That's for sure."