When Millie McDonagh was born almost four months premature, doctors put her chances of survival at one in a hundred.

Only 11 inches long and weighing a mere 20oz, Millie could fit in her father’s palm and her hands were the size of 10p pieces.

Millie is just a day older than Amillia Taylor, the baby born in the U.S., and is thought to be one of the most premature babies born in Britain to survive.

Her twin sister Ellie died at birth and Millie stopped breathing several times. When she was two weeks old her parents were told to prepare for the worst.

But after four months in hospital, Millie, who now weighs 5lb, has finally been allowed to go home and doctors say there are no signs that she will suffer lasting problems. Born at just 22 weeks and six days, Millie was only a week older than the world’s most premature baby, Amillia Taylor, who was born in Florida at 21 weeks and six days.

Millie was kept on a life-support machine in the specialist unit at St Mary’s Hospital, Manchester. Her mother added: ‘There were times when we were called in urgently because they feared the worst. All we could do was tell ourselves she was in the best place.’ Millie’s father, Tom, 22, said: ‘When they told us she had just one chance in a hundred we couldn’t stop thinking, “What if she’s the one per cent?”.’

Amy Edmunds, from the premature baby charity Bliss, said: ‘Millie proves that not all babies born very premature are disabled or have severe health problems.’

Lately, there have been a lot of micro preemies in the news. What people do not know is that most hospitals have an NICU that is probably close to capacity, a good portion of the time. Unless you have had a premature baby or you are a friend of someone who has had a preemie you would not be given access to these little fighters. Every so often the news of these babies makes it into the mainstream media and the world is shocked at how a baby that is so small could survive. The dedicated doctors and nurses spend endless hours taking special care of these precious babies along with the parents who set up vigils at the bedside.

For all those people who think that all of the funding and resources should not be given to a department with such a high chance of disability, you should just visit the NICU once. No one can ever comment on something they have never experienced. Once you see such a small being fighting for everything they have, your perception of life changes.

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SOURCE:DAILYMAIL

Jacob Cowan is one lucky baby who had a very exciting entrance into the world.

The infant came into the world a little quicker than his mum and dad had anticipated, making his grand entrance Wednesday morning in a car on a downtown street.

“The contractions were just getting stronger and stronger and I was grabbing on to the car door and I was grabbing onto (my husband) and I was going ‘No, please hurry.’ I go ‘I don’t think we’re going to make it to Sunnybrook,’” new mother Susan Cowan explained.

The expectant mum knew she just couldn’t wait any longer. The speedy progression of labour had dad Mark Cowan on edge and by the time he safely stopped the car to care for his wife his son had already arrived.

The new dad managed to call 911 to get some further guidance. “I’m having a heart attack, so I call 9-1-1 and I thought, well, tell them we’re coming to St. Joe’s (Hospital) because I just saw this umbilical cord coming out,” he said.

The 9-1-1 dispatcher advised the new father to keep the baby warm, by wrapping him in a sweater or coat and then told Cowan to remove his shoelace and wrap it around the umbilical cord.

SOURCE:CITYNEWS

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A Russian woman is suing the state after local officials gave her baby daughter the birth registration number 666.

Natalia Serepova, 33, from Stavropol, protested the number her daughter Marianna had been given was Satanic.

But when local authorities refused to change the number, which every new born child in Russia is given by local authorities, Serepova filed legal action.

She said: “I will not have my daughter given this number. It is the seal of the AntiChrist. It is the number of the beast and Satanic. It soils the soul of any Christian.”

A local court is due to hold an initial hearing on March 7.

I understand why this mom is so upset. Couldn’t this hopital just skip over this number and give the baby 667? It would be how there is no 13th floor on most buildings.

SOURCE:ANANOVA

I have to say this stroller system impresses me more every time a new piece is released.

The bugaboo is nice..and trendy, but it has nothing on the Orbit. If you are considering a high-end stroller for your new baby, this one should definitely be on your list.

Moderntots.com has the latest piece that will be available in March for 239.00 U.S. Called the Orbit Bassinet Cradle, this new edition to the system can also be used as a stand alone bassinet at home. Dock the Bassinet into the Rocker to form a modern cradle, or into the Stroller you already own to form an advanced pram.

Features Include:

∗unprecedented flexibility by facing rearward or to the sides on the Stroller, or all 4 different directions on the Rocker
∗easily undock or rotate the Bassinet by just pulling the levers
∗handily collapses to less than 6 inches thick for travel
∗reversible mattress quickly removes for machine-washing
∗Paparazzi Shield (sunshade extension) provides extra coverage for your infant
∗Unique UV sunshade lining blocks almost 100% of UVA and UVB rays
∗patent-pending soft carrier handles enable much more comfortable and secure carrying compared with traditional moses-basket handles
∗easily docks onto the Rocker and Stroller with the patent-pending
SmartHub

This stroller has been very popular with Celebrities because the car seat features a shade that covers the entire seat giving the baby complete privacy from photographers flashes and prying eyes. Now the bassinet offers the same features.

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Sportcraft is recalling about 2,600 inflatable bounce houses. The fan and the plastic housing surrounding the fan can break apart during use of the inflatable bounce house, posing a risk of impact injury.

Sportcraft has received three reports of the fan unit breaking apart during use. No injuries have been reported.

The recall involves large, inflatable bounce houses inside which children can jump and play. The recall includes the following models: ‘Castle Kingdom,’ ‘Jump ‘N’ Kingdom,’ and ‘Bounce ‘N’ Playhouse.’ The bounce houses are inflated by a yellow, horizontal fan.

The fan’s model number, FJ4-330C or FJ4-330C2, is printed on a silver sticker on the fan’s housing. Bounce houses with an ‘N’ at the end of either model number on the fan are not included in this recall. The Castle Kingdom and Jump ‘N’ Kingdom are approximately 10 feet long, 8 feet wide and 8 feet long. The Bounce ‘N’ Playhouse is about 8 feet long, 11 feet wide, and 9 feet high.

The units were sold at Academy Sports and Outdoors and Sport Chalet stores nationwide from September 2006 through January 2007 for between $200 and $300.

Consumers should immediately stop using the recalled bounce houses and contact Sportcraft to receive a free replacement fan.

Consumer Contact: For additional information, contact Sportcraft at (800) 511-0675 between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m. ET Monday through Friday, or visit the firm’s Web site at www.sportcraft.com

While this study sounds too good to be true, experts say “take this finding with a scoop of skepticism”.

MSNBC is reporting that a diet rich in ice cream and other high-fat dairy foods may lower the risk of one type of infertility.

The findings are bound to get attention because they are from the well-known Nurses Health Study at the Harvard School of Public Health and were published Wednesday in the European journal Human Reproduction.

Researchers found that women who ate two or more low-fat dairy products a day were nearly twice as likely to have trouble conceiving because of lack of ovulation than women who ate less than one serving of such foods a week.

Conversely, women who ate at least one fatty dairy food a day were 27 percent less likely to have this problem.

Even the researchers say women should not make too much of these results, which are based on reports of what women said they ate over many years — not a rigorous, scientific experiment where specific dietary factors could be studied in isolation.

“The idea is not to go crazy and start to have ice cream three times a day,” said the lead author, Dr. Jorge Chavarro, a research fellow at Harvard. “But it is certainly possible to have a healthy diet with low saturated fat intake by having one serving of high-fat dairy a day.”

Women who want a baby will try almost anything…even eating ice cream to get pregnant!

If women do eat more high-fat dairy foods to try to boost their odds of conceiving, it would be important to cut calories elsewhere to avoid gaining weight, doctors said. They also should switch back to low-fat dairy foods once the baby is born, to limit saturated fats.

A mom in Pueblo Colorado is accused of trading her 5 month old little boy for a down payment on an 2000 Dodge Intrepid and cash.

The asking price for the baby was initially $10,000, but that later dropped, Pueblo police Sgt. Brett Wilson said quoting an affidavit. Negotiations were still under way and it was unclear whether future payments on the 2000 car, for the mother, were part of the deal.

All were arrested on suspicion of felony trafficking in children and were being held at the Pueblo jail under $50,000 bail each.

The baby was placed in a foster home, Wilson said. Wilson said he couldn’t speculate on the motives for the alleged deal.

The police found the baby and arrested his mother within hours of getting a tip on Monday.

Some people are so UNBELIEVABLE! All over the world, there parents sitting beside their children in hospital beds praying for them to get better, while this idiot trades her healthy little boy for a CAR???

She needs jail time and a judge to guarentee that this baby will never come in contact with her again.

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SOURCE:FOXNEWS

After trying for 30 minutes to bring two-week-old Woody Lander back to life, doctors decided there was nothing more they could do and called in his parents to say their tearful farewells.

A nurse passed Woody to his heartbroken father and gently pulled a tube from his mouth so they could kiss him goodbye.

The lifeless baby suddenly coughed and moved. Nurses immediately grabbed Woody back, re-attached the tubes and lifesaving equipment and he came back to life in front of his astonished parents.

No one has been able to explain why Woody, who had suffered a massive heart attack, was able to return from the brink. And despite being starved of oxygen for so long, he appears to have suffered no permanent brain damage.

Now 14 months old, Woody is a happy-go-lucky youngster who should be able to lead a normal life. His parents Jon, 34, and Karen Lander, 32, still can’t believe what they went through.

They had been shopping in a supermarket near their home in Leeds in December 2005 when they noticed Woody looked ashen and felt cold.

They rang the NHS Direct emergency line from their car and an ambulance was sent to take them to Leeds General Infirmary. Soon after arrival, he suffered a heart attack and stopped breathing.

Mr Lander, a civil servant, recalled: “It was awful, those 30 minutes seemed to last forever. After what seemed like an eternity the doctor came out and said, ‘I think we have done all we can’. They had reached the cut-off point for resuscitation.

“We were taken back to see him and Woody was handed to us to say goodbye. We were just in bits. We didn’t know what to say or do. They started taking his tubes out and that’s when he started twitching.

“They took him straight back off us. They managed to get his heart going again and he came back to life in front of us. It was amazing. We still don’t know how he managed to come round - we just know he’s a little miracle. He’s growing up into a happy and healthy little boy.”

While my son was in the NICU, I heard many stories like this. The nurses would tell me about babies that the doctors had decided to disconnect. They would call the parents in, unhook the baby from all of the equipment and wait for them to go peacefully in their parents arms. The babies must have known that it was their time to shine..and sometimes the little monkeys wouldn’t give up. After 10 or 15 minutes the nurses would have no choice but to reconnect the baby to their machinery.

Doctors can only predict with some degree of accuracy what the outcome will be. Each person has their own spirit and capabilities. No one really knows for sure what the future will hold for anyone.

Are they miracles or fighters???

SOURCE:DAILYMAIL

Many women don’t understand how they gain so much weight when the baby only weighs 7lbs (average). Aside from the fact that you are probably gaining some extra weigh with the new foods you may have introduced to your diet, there are other factors that add to your pregnancy weight gain.

Women who begin pregnancy at a normal weight and who are expecting one baby usually are advised to gain 25 to 35 pounds over nine months. Women of normal weight who are expecting twins are usually advised to gain 35 to 45 pounds. Women pregnant with triplets should probably aim for a gain of 50 to 60 pounds.

Studies show that gaining enough weight in the first 20 to 24 weeks of pregnancy is especially important for women carrying multiples. In a twin pregnancy, a gain of at least 24 pounds by the 24th week of pregnancy helps reduce the risk of having preterm and low-birthweight babies. A good early weight gain may be especially important in multiple gestations because these pregnancies tend to be shorter than singleton pregnancies. Studies also suggest that a good early weight gain aids in development of the placenta, possibly improving its ability to pass along nutrients to the babies.

SOURCE:MARCHOFDIMES, NESTLEBABY

Liev Schreiber has confirmed he and girlfriend Naomi Watts are expecting their first child together.

There have been many rumours lately about Naomi’s noticeably fuller figure. She appeared at the Oscars on Sunday night wearing a butter coloured Escada dress that showcased her bump and then a PR Rep for Escada, mistakenly sent out a press note confirming what everyone already knew.

Liev appeared on The Conan O’Brien show on Monday where he confirmed the happy news saying, “I’m going to be a dad.

Very exciting! “It’s a strange thing about women. You can take a complete wall-flower, a quiet girl and get them pregnant and then they want to go out all the time! “So I gave her grief about going to the Oscars and she said, ‘No, no, it’s a very auspicious thing’ that our ‘embryo’ I guess, was going to be going to the Oscars.” When asked whether the couple had thought about any names he replied, “I’m trying to stay out of it all. I’m trying not to make any decisions. “I find everything I try to do in service of her or the coming baby is wrong. I really don’t even go to my house much anymore.”

When O’Brien asked if they would consider passing the unique name Liev on to their offspring he added, “No, it’s a terrible name. It’s probably the most mis-pronounced name in all of show business. It’s bad enough that I have gone through that for 15 years. There won’t be any Liev juniors. It’s not like George, you can call five kids George. You can’t really call anyone Liev, you shouldn’t call one child that, I don’ t think!”

SOURCE:PRINSIDE