Kenna Moore was born weighing just 9.5oz at 25
weeks gestation, making her the world’s fourth-smallest surviving baby. This
week she will go home with her parents, Nicki and Sam Moore, after spending 183
days at North Carolina’s Presbyterian Hemby Children’s Hospital.
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| Kenna in intensive care |
Dr. Rogers Howell, Kenna’s neonatologist, explained
that Kenna was born in the caul. In fact, the baby, placenta and amniotic sac
all came out together. As the placenta was detached, the baby was no longer
receiving oxygen from her mother, the sac had to be opened and breathing tubes
put in Kenna. At her birth, doctors did not know how long Kenna would live, as
the survival rate for infants born at 25 weeks gestation is approximately 60%. Kenna
has overcome hernias, abnormal blood vessel development in her retinas, and
necrotizing enterocolitis to leave hospital this week after nearly 6 months of
intensive care.
Kenna’s mother, Nicki Moore, was diagnosed with
pregnancy-induced high blood pressure when she was 20 weeks pregnant. An
ultrasound two weeks later showed that Kenna had stopped growing. Her mother
says “One of the doctors suggested that I
consider abortion, but that was off the table”. She added that she hopes
Kenna will help to inspire others who are going through similarly tough times. “By sharing the challenges we faced and this
experience, we hope it will help people who are going through something similar
and can't find any words of hope. You have to find something to hold onto and
try to find the positive in everything.”
“There’s
always the fear that some things could go wrong,” Nicki added. “But that’s with
every baby, every baby that you bring home. I think that we’re really lucky
because we have very strong support between the nurses and doctors.”
And this
Tuesday, after months of worry and struggles, Nicki and Sam got to bring Kenna
home, what they described as “the
happiest day of our life”.
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| Kenna at sixth months, about to go home. |
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