Baby Who Weighed 13.7 Ounces At Birth Leaves NICU In New Jersey
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PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- A baby who weighed a little more than a can of soda at birth has been released from a New Jersey hospital.
Makenna Spruill was born 16 weeks early in March, weighing only 13.7 ounces.
"Makenna has taught me that you can never draw a line and say below this, nobody survives," said Benedict Asiegbu, MD, CHOP neonatologist, who admitted Makenna to the NICU after she was born.
On Tuesday, she weighed four pounds, 10 ounces.
Hundreds of neonatal doctors from AtlantiCare and Children's Hospital of Philadelphia helped care for Makenna.
"Makenna was so small that she fit into the palm of an adult hand when she was born," said Stephanie Grayson, M.D., CHOP neonatologist. "The first time I laid eyes on her I couldn't believe she was okay. She was so small that you were almost afraid to touch her."
"The first time I saw her, I thought she was so incredibly tiny," said Dana Beatty, RN, an AtlantiCare NICU nurse who nicknamed the baby 'Mighty Makenna.' "She's a fighter. She has beaten the odds."
Doctors sent her and mom off with a bouquet of 113 pink and white carnations--one for each day Makenna was in the NICU.