The baby boy, who was born at just 22 weeks and was disabled all along, defied all odds to walk and talk.
Eli James, now one year old, weighed just 1 pound 3 ounces when he was born in Las Vegas, Nevada, last March. He was so small {that} the ring could fit on his hand at his mom’s wedding ceremony.
Paloma Aguilar, 34, and her husband Elizar, 45, were told that if their son survived, he could face lifelong physical and psychological disabilities. But after he was released from intensive care at the end of July, his problems began to worsen.
Ms Aguilar said: “He is now walking and saying his first phrases – dad was the main one. Everyone is shocked at his progress.
Eli James was born at 22 weeks and weighed just 1lb 3oz. He was so small that his hands were the size of his mother’s fingers. In the picture above, he is in the hospital shortly after the start
However, after several months in the hospital and careful provision of breast milk, the infant survived. Now he’s starting to talk, his first phrase being “Daddy,” and he’s walking around his home in Las Vegas, Nevada.
The child spent several months in the hospital and was monitored 24 hours a day. The picture above shows that his hand was so small that an entire ring could fit around it.
She added that her son was barely smaller than a variety of annuals, but he caught up “pretty quickly.”
Babies born before 22 weeks are usually too underdeveloped to be treated effectively in intensive care and have almost no chance of survival.
But each year in the US, about 5,000 babies are born prematurely between 22 and 23 weeks, when the chances of survival are very low, but not zero.
Studies show that between a fifth and a third of babies born after 22 weeks who are cared for in intensive care survive.
Eli – the youngest of 4 children – was born at 22 weeks and sooner or later.
Ms. Aguilar mentioned she was pregnant in response to the plan, until sooner or later her water broke out of the blue after a scan.
She mentioned: “We had an ultrasound on the Friday when I was 22 weeks and everything seemed normal.
“Then on Friday night at midnight my water broke and I went to the hospital early Saturday morning.
“When I arrived they told me I was three centimeters dilated and the baby was not viable.”
Doctors tried to help Ms. Aguilar delay the delivery, but warned that the infection posed a threat to both mother and baby.
She was diagnosed with chorioamnionitis, a bacterial infection in the fetal membranes surrounding the baby and the placenta. It can also spread in the amniotic fluid, or the fluid that surrounds and protects the fetus.
Paloma Aguilar, 34, and husband Elisar, 45, pictured with baby Eli. He is their fourth child
His mom said part of what pulled her son, pictured above, was a regular supply of fortified breast milk.
Ms. Aguilar tried to delay the birth, but three days after her water broke, she gave birth to a son.
Speaking about the birth, Ms Aguilar said: “It was quite painful actually, even though he was small, because it happened so quickly.
So nothing could help me with the pain. He was just lying in bed when the nurse barely came to me.
“They showed it to me before they took it away.”
The new family is pictured above. Eli only survived after 22 weeks of birth
Pictured above is Eli at the family home. He is now one year old
After the birth, Mrs. Aguilar, her husband and Eli faced an incredibly difficult time as the baby fought for his life.
She explained: ‘When I saw him it was terrifying.
“But I’m always confident. I used to be confident that if he gets this far, he’s tough.
“I was even getting a PICC line (used to administer medication and nutrition) for him, it was scary.
“The doctor advised me that they had put the smallest needle into the ground, which was as skinny as a strand of hair, and even that was too big to fit his veins.”
Ms. Aguilar said Eli’s incredible fight for his life lasted several months, and although he was “almost stable,” one evening medics once again feared for his life.
“There was a point when he got really sick and they called us to the hospital at 3am because he wasn’t well,” she revealed.
“There were always ups and downs, but for the most part he was steady.”
