Born At Sea: One-Pound Baby Arrives On Cruise Ship, Mom Builds Incubator To Save Him

Haiden Morgan weighs under two pounds and about as long as a dollar bill. His hands are the size of a quarter, his foot — a pinkie. And his birth certificate will forever mark his incredible birth: born at sea.

Micro-preemie Haiden was born on the Royal Caribbean cruise ship last month, 15 weeks before his due date. His mother, Emily, was cleared by the doctor for the seven-day cruise, so she, her husband Chase, and their daughter Chloe headed out from their home in Utah for the trip, KSTU reported.

Two days into the cruise, Emily awoke with contractions — 14 hours from the nearest hospital, in the middle of the ocean.

Ship doctors arrived by 1:20 a.m. and gave her some unique advice, Morgan told KSL-TV, “keep your legs closed, don’t push because we are not porting for another 14 hours.”

Miracle "micro-preemie" born to #Ogden couple on @RoyalCaribbean #cruise ship. http://t.co/HA6MSXTpgY pic.twitter.com/ifhjkJzf99

— Standard-Examiner (@standardex) September 24, 2015

But she knew her unborn child was coming and there was nothing she could do about it, whether she was at home or on a cruise ship. Sure enough, the preemie was born 30 minutes later, but with devastating news: Morgan had miscarried and the child had died.

Emily told The New York Daily News that she wasn’t about to accept that.

“I had felt him inside my womb. I could feel him kicking and stretching. It was just a mother’s instinct. It didn’t matter what anyone said.”

Her instincts were right and the cruise ship doctor was wrong, because 45 minutes later he returned to say the preemie was still alive — but probably not for long. Though his cheek was very cold, his mom wasn’t afraid. Replacing it was instinct, guiding her to do whatever she could to keep her baby alive.

After all, “he wanted to be here.”

The cruise ship didn’t have anything like an incubator aboard, so Emily and the nurses built a makeshift incubator and stayed up all night making sure the preemie was warm. She wrapped him in towels, put a sanitary napkin on his head to keep the heat in, and surrounded him with saline packets Emily microwaved every 90 minutes.

The ship’s captain — who had been told the preemie died — called the next morning to talk to what he believed was a grieving mother. Instead, he heard Haiden crying.

“And he said, ‘Wait a minute, he’s alive?’ And I said, ‘He is.’ He said we are going as fast as we can and we’ll port two hours early in San Juan and we’ll get you guys to the hospital, but he said that’s as fast as I can get you there.”

Doctors believe that extra two hours probably helped save the preemie’s life.

The family arrived in San Juan, Puerto Rico equipped with translators provided by Royal Caribbean. Three days later, a medical jet brought them to Miami Children’s Hospital, and there Haiden will likely remain until December — the month he was supposed to be born — when the family will return to their home in Utah.

Morgan reports that her son’s lungs are developed, which bodes well for his survival; the preemie also has a small heart murmur but has gained an ounce. The Morgans have set up a GoFundMe page to help with expenses.

“It’s a true inspiration that a little baby that you don’t even really know can be so motivated to live and so strong. Haiden is a fighter and he will make it through all of this.”

[Photo Courtesy Getty Images]