She was born about the size of a cellphone. At just 23 weeks, baby Bi’Laynie became the smallest surviving baby born in the Memorial Healthcare System.
Eight months after doctors were fighting minute by minute to keep baby Bi’Laynie alive, she has come a long way. Today, she coos, reacts to voices and engages with books — making eye contact, swiping at pictures and trying to stand.
Her mother, Jeanmyna Jean Charles, calls her a miracle.
Back in April, at just 22 weeks pregnant, doctors discovered Jean Charles had preeclampsia, a life-threatening pregnancy complication involving dangerously high blood pressure.
“They did the urine test – boom, preeclampsia,” she said. “They told me I wasn’t being discharged and would have to stay until I had the baby. I was only 22 weeks at that time.”
It wouldn’t be long before her condition escalated, leaving doctors with only one option: to deliver the baby at 23 weeks.
“When babies are born at 23 weeks gestation, all of their organs are immature,” said Dr. Cherie Foster, chief of neonatology at Joe DiMaggio Children’s Hospital. “They can’t regulate their temperature. Their lungs, immune system, and brain are not fully developed.”
Neonatologists at Joe DiMaggio Children’s Hospital, under Dr. Foster’s leadership, created an environment that mimicked the womb to help Bi’Laynie survive.
“The two biggest things we look at are growth and development,” Dr. Foster explained. “Is she growing, and is she meeting her milestones on time?”
Now eight months old, Bi’Laynie weighs 11 pounds — a major milestone considering she weighed just over half a pound at birth. The micro-preemie remains closely monitored, with her heart rate and oxygen levels continuously tracked. She uses portable oxygen and relies on a feeding tube.
“Every day when I see her, I stop and think, I can’t believe you’re here,” Jean Charles said. “I’m being honest. I really can’t believe she’s here.”
Here and thriving, often dressed in satin pink, Bi’Laynie’s fighting spirit is unmistakable.
“She was a fighter,” her mother said. “She never wanted to stay in one place. I’m telling the truth.”
And Jean Charles’ hope for her?
“She’s going to grow up and be a superstar in whatever she wants to be,” she said, smiling.
Jean Charles says she is incredibly grateful to the teams at Memorial Regional Hospital and Joe DiMaggio Children’s Hospital, who never lost faith in either of them.
Dr. Foster says Bi’Laynie’s story is rare, but advances in technology and research are improving to allow the most fragile babies to survive and thrive.
To help the family, they have set up a GoFundMe.
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