Warrior Baby II

I'd like to introduce you to my newest Warrior Baby.

Remember the 28 week twins that came in last week? This WB is one of the twins.

I had drawn her sister on several occasions, but had not made the connection in either names or by sight.

These twins are diamniotic - that is, there was one placenta, but two separate sacs.

But WB had the disadvantage. Her sister was hogging everything, so while she was languishing in relative comfort, WB was not. In fact, she was being starved by her sister.

Yesterday was my first glimpse of WB. As the luck of the draw would have it, she was one of the early morning draws; she had an arterial line, so all I had to do is show up, take the syringe from the nurse, label it and return to the lab.

I walked into the darkened room and my jaw dropped. Warrior Baby is the smallest baby I have ever seen. She weighs 3 grams LESS than a pound. Yet, she's active and feisty and I have tremendous hopes that she'll pull through.

I'm posting a picture of an image of a 1 pound baby that I found on the 'Net. Please notice the position of the adult hands and realize that the baby's head will easily fit into the "U" made by the thumb and first finger.

And, those three grams less than a pound make a world of difference - she's even smaller than this picture.

So, there you have it. Another wee one to capture my heart.



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In other news from the nursery, the baby I spoke of whose intestines had prevented lung development because of a hernia has been placed on ECMO. Already the steroids have taken their toll, increasing the size of this child to gargantuan proportions.

Mom and Dad came to visit her yesterday; Mom was wheeled in by wheelchair - she looked like she hadn't slept since the baby was born. How horrible it must be to not be able to take your child into your arms, but instead be only allowed to touch them softly.

And, again I wonder if we are doing the right thing to try to save the child's life. Of course, it's a loaded question that could be debated for a long time. I hope the Gods give the parents the strength they need no matter what the situation has to be.

The other baby I spoke of several days ago who had a eating disorder which caused constant hunger has gone home. I hope that the parents have come to terms with their special needs children and will give them the love they need and deserve. After all, we're never given anything we can't handle.