Baby born at 25 weeks is now home and healthy

After spending the first 150 days of life in the NICU, baby Kallie Sky Bender is now at home with mom, Ebonie Bender.

Kallie was born smaller than a Barbie doll at just 25 weeks gestation.

 

Kallie Bender was born at St. Joseph's Hospital and Medical Center, in May with accompanying complications.

 

Baby Bender spent 150 days in the neonatal intensive care unit while her parents, Ebonie and Dameon, travelled forty minutes every day to visit her in the hospital. Now, finally, they can have her home.

One of Kallie's doctors, Dr. Vinit Manuel, medical director of the nursery intensive care unit at St. Joseph’s Hospital and Medical Center, credits the baby's parents for being so involved in her recovery

“They were by her bedside, reading to her. It’s not possible to quantify, but research shows it’s very important for the baby’s development,” he says.

Kallie, weighing around 8 pounds now, still relies on an oxygen tank and feeding tube, but doctors and parents report she is getting stronger every day.