Mother Gives Birth At 24 Weeks To 13-Ounce Baby After 17 Years Of Infertility, Finally Gets To Bring Miracle Baby Home
Dana Griffin-Graves and her husband Arkell Graves struggled through infertility for 17 years. The pair, both 41-years-old, had given up on having children after nearly two decades of fertility struggles and miscarriages. However, to their surprise, Dana became pregnant last year. After one stillbirth and four miscarriages, Dana did not even suspect she was pregnant when she began gaining weight. However, after strange symptoms persisted, Dana scheduled a doctor’s appointment and found out the good news. Dana then informed her husband of the pregnancy by putting “buns in the oven” during a romantic dinner and videoed her husband’s reaction.
Praise Report: Viral Parents Arkell & Dana Graves Celebrate Their Son’s Heart Repair https://t.co/vJVwMCvOm3
— My Majic 102.3 (@mymajic1023) March 12, 2016
The video went viral, with people congratulating the couple for their miracle pregnancy. However, just two weeks after the viral pregnancy announcement video, Dana would be admitted to the hospital. Despite doctors telling the hopeful mother that her life was in danger, Dana continued to push forward with her pregnancy, refusing to give up on her baby.and give birth to her son at just 24 weeks of pregnancy, claims her husband Arkell.
“She refused to go on with the delivery until it was a time where they could actually take care of him in the neonatal intensive care unit. I’m going to tell you, just looking at my wife, it was the most selfless thing I have ever seen somebody do.”
At just 24 weeks, nearly four months away from her due date, on October 20, 2015, Dana gave birth to her son Kaleb and doctors prepared for the worst. Kaleb weighed just 13 ounces and was given just a five percent chance of survival. Fortunately, despite his slim changes of survival, “Baby Buns” Kaleb is doing well and the Daily Mail reports he is preparing to go home.
“God is good. He’s a miracle. Kaleb is a miracle.”
Though the doting parents don’t have an exact date that they will be able to bring their new bundle of joy to his family home, they say that doctors have given them the green light as he now weighs in at 6 pounds and 4 ounces.
https://www.facebook.com/DanaArkell/posts/1671294319798286
The couple shared Kaleb’s journey via their official Facebook page and provides constant updates of the status of their little fighter. Kaleb is truly a “miracle baby” story even from the start. Dana shared her excitement for the pregnancy as she notes that she had given up hope of getting pregnant after 17 years of failed attempts, miscarriages, and a stillbirth. Therefore, when she was admitted to the hospital at just 19 weeks, they feared the worst. Though she knew the chances of another stillbirth were high, Dana did not give up on Kaleb and was able to hold on until 24 weeks of pregnancy, the first week that a baby is considered viable outside of the womb.
No longer in critical condition, mom from viral pregnancy video says son ‘is a miracle’???? https://t.co/gg9RUFu2ON pic.twitter.com/E1hIfidMot
— People Magazine (@people) March 10, 2016
Though Kaleb was tiny and weighed just 13 ounces, he is not the tiniest baby to be born and to survive. The Carolinas Medical Center in Charlotte, N.C, recently celebrated baby E’Layah and her milestone achievements of increasing her birth weight by five times. The tiny baby was born weighing just 10 ounces, and doctors originally did not know if she would survive. E’Layah is the smallest baby to ever be born at the hospital and was recently released home to her parents.
What do you think about Dana and Arkell’s amazing story of “miracle baby” Kaleb? Did you watch the viral “Bun in the Oven” video when it was posted back in September?
[Image via Facebook/Arkell & Dana’s Baby Bun]
