Ariana Cruz-Gutierrez spent the first 24 weeks of her life in a hospital. But the tiniest premature baby to ever be born at Anne Arundel Medical Center (AAMC) has finally gone home wither her family.
“We’re all thrilled Ariana is going home,” NICU Director at AAMC Dr. Suzanna Rindfleisch told 5 NEWS. “She was a special baby. She’ll always be remembered.”
Ariana weighed only 12 ounces, as much as a stick of butter, when she was born at AAMC in Maryland in March.
Now, the 5-month-old baby weighs 4 pounds. Ariana’s mother, Claudia Cruz, had some medical issues, including gestational hypertension, and was induced into labor at just 24 weeks.
“When the baby was born, we were uncertain of what could happen,” Ariana’a dad Oscar Gutierrez said. “The baby could die, but with God’s help and blessing, and the incredible work of the people here, everything has turned out well.”
When she was born, Ariana wasn’t breathing and doctors had to resuscitate her.
“We felt like we wanted to die,” Gutierrez told Capital Gazette. “But, now that we’ve thought of it, it was the best decision we made. Truthfully, when they told us the baby could die, our life changed completely.”
The parents discovered that Cruz has gestational hypertension during a pre-natal appointment with a midwife and then decided that Ariana should be birthed.
“She was our smallest survivor,” Rindfleisch said. “She was 12 ounces and dropped to 8 ounces. It was a long and difficult course for her, but she has a bright future ahead. Being at 24 weeks gestation, all the issues of a premature birth were there with the placement of tubes and monitors. She had transfusions and intubations. Her head sonogram was normal, though. And her parents were by her side all these months.”
Rindfleisch said her parents’ love and support is what helped Ariana to pull through.
“This is a good time to tell all the women they should get their blood pressure checked as soon as they find out they are pregnant,” Gutierrez said. “They should get into pre-natal early. Claudia’s blood pressure was really high. We’ve cried blood for everything the baby has suffered and we’ve suffered.”
Ariana now has to return to the hospital for regular physical therapy and checkups. It won’t be clear until she is 18 months old whether or not she will have and physical or intellectual challenges.
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