Here is a newspaper article about those tiny babies, smaller than I was, I
weighed two pounds in January of 1964.  I am glad th ey are doing fine.

World's smallest baby defies odds
Full story:
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/nationworld/2002127003_tinybaby22.html

By Chicago Tribune and The Associated Press

CHICAGO — Rumaisa Rahman was dying in the womb because of her mother's
severe high-blood pressure and the competition with her larger fraternal
twin.
But before moving to save her, doctors had to balance the need for continued
gestation that is crucial to the survival of premature babies.

The twins' original due date was Christmas. Doctors decided to deliver them
by Caesarean section Sept. 19.

"We thought we were within a few hours to maybe a day of [her dying],"
Loyola University Medical Center obstetrician Dr. William MacMillan said
yesterday.

Rumaisa, believed to be the world's tiniest surviving baby, weighed just 8.6
ounces — so small that her doctors, in disbelief, weighed her in the
delivery room three times. But they say she was born vigorous and pink,
crying and with her eyes open.

The tiny girl was called "a great blessing" yesterday by her mother, who is
preparing to take her and her twin home from the hospital.

SCOTT OLSON / GETTY IMAGESRumaisa Rahman, now almost 13-1/2 inches long and
weighing 2 pounds, 10 ounces, is introduced to the media yesterday.Rumaisa,
her twin, Hiba, and their parents were introduced yesterday at a news
conference at the hospital in suburban Maywood. Bundled in a white blanket
with blue
and red stripes that matched her sister's, Rumaisa peered around the room,
flailed her tiny arms and let out a little cry as cameras repeatedly
flashed.

Their mother, Mahajabeen Shaik, said she didn't "have the words to say how
thankful I was" when she first got to hold her children in their second
month.

When she was born, Rumaisa was 9-3/4 inches long and given about a 50
percent chance of survival. She's now about the size of a football in her
father's
arms — almost 13-1/2 inches long and weighing 2 pounds, 10 ounces.

Doctors say she and her sister — who was about 1 pound, 4 ounces at
birth and now is 5 pounds — are doing well. Hiba could be released
from
the hospital by the end of this month, with Rumaisa following as early as
the first week of January.

"I was really nervous when I [first] saw the babies because they were too
tiny," said their father, Mohammed Abdul Rahman, 32, a customer-service
representative
from Hanover Park, Ill. "There were a lot of questions in my mind. 'The baby
is 8 ounces, how's she going to grow?' But I'm thankful to Allah that
everything's
been fine."

Shaik carried Rumaisa and Hiba for 25 weeks and 6 days — every last
one of them critical. The earliest extreme for a premature baby to survive
is
23 weeks, doctors said, while normal pregnancies last about 40 weeks.

Rumaisa's birth weight was more typical for an 18-week fetus, but the extra
time she spent in the womb was more vital than her size, said Dr. Jonathan
Muraskas,
professor of pediatrics and neonatal-perinatal medicine at Loyola's medical
school.

"The biggest misconception that can come out of here is that 8- and 9-ounce
babies normally will survive," Muraskas said. "This is an extreme case and
it
has to do with gestation."

Another important factor: The twins are girls. Of the 62 newborns worldwide
since 1936 who have survived with birth weights of less than 13 ounces, 56
have
been female, Muraskas said. Baby girls, he said, are just heartier and more
resilient.

Hospital officials estimated the cost of care averages $5,000 a day at
Loyola for a premature baby. The twins are covered by Medicaid, officials
said.

Muraskas said the twins were placed on ventilators for a few weeks and fed
intravenously for a week or two until nurses could give them breast milk
through
feeding tubes, and then bottles after about 10 weeks.

Ultrasound tests have shown no bleeding in their brains, a common
complication in premature babies that can raise the risk of cerebral palsy.
They still
are receiving a little oxygen as a precaution. They had laser surgery for
potential vision problems.

"We won't know for a year or two, but right now, Dr. MacMillan and I are
very optimistic that they're going to be normal," Muraskas said.

The twins are the first children for the parents, who were married in
January in Hyderabad, India, their hometown, but are permanent U.S.
residents.

"We want them to be good human beings, good citizens, and she wants them to
be doctors," said Rahman, looking at his wife.

"Doctors. Yes, of course, of course," she said, laughing.

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