Melinda now. Her mother says: "She was always fighting. All the nurses were saying that she was really feisty." Picture: AP Source: AP
- Born by caesarian section at 24 weeks
- Parents hope she'll be home by New Years Day
- "She was always fighting for her life�
THE third smallest baby to be born and survive is thriving in a neonatal unit in the US despite entering the world almost four months early.
Doctors at the Los Angeles County USC Medical Centre say Melinda Star Guido weighed just 270g - about the same as a can of Coke - when she was born by caesarian section on August 30.
Her official due date was today.
Melinda, born so small she could fit in the palm of her doctor?s hand, received round-the-clock care and her happy parents hope to have her home by New Years Day. She now tips the scales at 1.87kgs.
Mum Haydee Ibarra told the Los Angeles Times: ?She was always fighting, all the nurses were saying that she was really feisty, she was always fighting for her life?.
Ms Ibarra, 22, had to deliver Melinda at just 24 weeks because of a high blood pressure disorder that put both their lives at risk.
?She's been through a lot and she's made it. A lot of people doubted her. They thought that she wasn't going to make it,? Ms Ibarra told AP. ?She's a little miracle to me.?
Melinda weighed about the same as two iPhones when she was born 16 weeks premature. Picture: AP
Source: AP
According to the Global Birth Registry, she was the third smallest baby ever to be born to survive until her due date.
Kept insulated in the incubator, Melinda was hooked up to a machine to aid her breathing. She received nutrition through a feeding tube.
The smallest surviving baby born weighing 260.8 grams is now a healthy seven-year-old and another who weighed 280.6 at birth is an honours college student studying psychology.
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