A mum who was told her 1lb 11oz baby "would not survive" after arriving three months early says he's defied the odds and is thriving. Saniah Poindexter, 19, discovered she was pregnant after doing a test for fun with her best friend.
After getting over the shock news, Saniah was excited to become a mum. She said he had a normal pregnancy and craved tuna sandwiches and rice crispy treats.
But when she was 26 weeks gone, Saniah came home from college feeling under the weather - suffering from stomach ache, sickness and a sky-high temperature. Her mum, Stephanie Dolly Poindexter, 35, urged her daughter to go to the hospital.
Saniah was told she was in active labour and her baby would arrive 14 weeks early and was warned he "would not survive". Six hours later, her little boy, Kayden, now four months, was born at 4am - weighing a tiny 1lbs 11oz. He has now been discharged, and his mum says he's "thriving" at home.
Business student Saniah said: “I had no complications, I had never felt sick until the day I gave birth. I was sad - I didn’t know what was happening. I did everything I could in my pregnancy to be healthy. I cried about it a lot, they told me I would be lucky if he came home. He's defied the odds, medics told me he wouldn't make it - he's doing really well despite us being told differently."
In May 2022, Saniah was shocked to find out she was pregnant - saying she was "nervous but excited". But in October, 26 weeks into her pregnancy and after a full day of college, Saniah complained of feeling sick. She started experiencing stomach pains and was throwing up and burning up.
Saniah said: “When I came home, I was feeling so sick. I couldn’t even lay down, it got to the point that I was so hot, I stood outside throwing up and my mum told me to go to hospital.”
After 20 minutes in the emergency department, Saniah was sent to the maternity ward at Spectrum Health Butterworth Hospital, where she was told she was in active labour. Six hours later, at 4am on October 14, 2022, little Kayden was born at 22 weeks – three months premature.
Kayden was immediately taken to the NICU ward at nearby Helen DeVos Children’s Hospital - where he stayed for 65 days.
Saniah, from Grand Rapids, Michigan in the USA, said: "I didn't understand what was going on. I got told that I would be lucky if he came home, he was born micro-premature, he weighed just 1lbs 11oz.
"He was an incubator for around 70 days, when I took him home, he weighed 4lbs 8oz. I knew he was special - he was the smallest boy in the hospital at the time."
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Now, Kayden is four months old and is "very feisty". Saniah said: "Bringing him home was the happiest day of my life.
"He is doing great, technically he is one month old - he is making noises and knows how to roll over. He can see me, he is always looking for me - he is a really advanced baby. It makes me feel happy."
