It’s been a miraculous journey for a baby girl who was born at just 23 weeks in California.
Believed to be the world's smallest surviving baby, Saybie weighed just 8.6 ounces when she was born at Sharp Mary Birch Hospital for Women & Newborns in December.
After growing to be more than 5 pounds over a five-month period, the baby girl is finally going home.
“They told my husband that he had about an hour with her and that she was going to pass away. But that hour turned into two hours, which turned into a day, which turned into a week,” Saybie’s mom, who wasn’t identified, said in a video released by the hospital.
The mom described Saybie’s birthday as the “scariest of her life.” Saybie was delivered early due to her mom’s preeclampsia and weighed 7 grams less than the world’s previous smallest baby.
The nurses in the NICU decorated the area around her crib each time Saybie reached a milestone, from weight to new things she was able to do.
One sign read: “Tiny but mighty”
"You could barely see her in the bed she was so tiny," nurse Emma Wiest said in the video.
Saybie, who was considered a micro-preemie, went home wearing a graduation cap to celebrate her journey.
"She's a miracle, that's for sure," said nurse Kim Norby.
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