When baby girl “Saybie” was born, she weighed the same as an apple. Born in December, at a San Diego hospital, “Saybie” was believed to be the world’s first tiniest surviving baby termed a micro preemie. She weighed in at just 8.6 ounces at birth and was not expected to survive for very long after birth.
“Saybie,” which is the name that the parents are using, as they wish to remain anonymous, was born just a short 23 weeks and 3 days into her mothers 40-week pregnancy. When she was born, the doctors pulled her father to the side and told him would only have a short hour with his daughter before she was expected to pass.
Image: Metro
In a video released by Sharp Mary Birch Hospital for Women and Newborns, the mother stated:
“But that hour turned into two hours, which turned into a day, which then turned into a week.”
More than five months passed, and time had come for “Saybie” to go home. Not only go home but do so as a healthy infant, weighing in at a hefty 5 pounds. Her title of being the world’s smallest infant ever to survive has been documented by University of Iowa’s Tiniest Baby Registry, which the university maintains.
Before “Saybie” took over her smallest baby title, her predecessor was a Japanese baby, who reportedly weighed in at just 9.45 ounces when he arrived only 16 weeks into his mother’s pregnancy early last August. According to Dr. Edward Bell, a professor of pediatrics at the University of Iowa, “Saybie” in fact had the lowest medically confirmed birth weight ever to be submitted to the registry.
The hospital where “Saybie” was born has officially determined that she was 7 grams smaller than the previous tiniest baby, which was born in 2015 in Germany. The nurses that cared for “Saybie” stated she was so little, that you could barely see her in her crib.