A micro-preemie born at 24 weeks and weighing less than two pounds was cleared to go home after 147 days in the NICU at New York University Langone Hospital.
The miracle baby, Shyne Graham, was supposed to be born around Mother’s Day but had to be delivered via emergency C-section on January 24 when her mother, Phaebe Turner, began bleeding and experiencing contractions four months early. She was understandably scared, because she had previously experienced a miscarriage on Mother’s Day in 2022. It has been established that a previous miscarriage can increase the risk of premature birth in future pregnancies, and that premature births have been increasing.
When Turner arrived at the hospital on January 24, everything happened quickly, and she was rushed off for an emergency c-section, not realizing her daughter had been delivered when she woke up. Looking back, she recalled, “I remember waking up from surgery in a fog, and people were saying, ‘Congratulations.’ I said, ‘For what?’” Turner recalled. “I was shell shocked.”
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Babies born at 24 weeks are among the youngest who can survive a premature birth, with the record currently being 21 weeks. For those who do make it to the 24-week mark, like Shyne, the survival rate increases by 60-70%. Of course, there are more risks of complications at this stage. Both Turner and her daughter had their share of infections and complications to battle through, but luckily they were both tough fighters. One of the biggest concerns with babies born this prematurely is that their lungs are not developed yet, so Shyne needed a breathing tube until she could breathe on her own. On top of this, she contracted three infections, including step throat and E. coli. An article posted about Shyne on the NYU Langone website shared that Turner also “suffered from pneumonia, an E. coli infection, and strep throat herself.”
In a touching video from ABC7NY made after Shyne’s graduation from the NICU, Turner recounted the time immediately following her daughter’s birth, when they weren’t sure she would survive. The medical staff reviewed the complication risks with her and the prognosis. Their 147 days in the NICU weren’t easy, especially the first few weeks when Turner couldn’t even hold her new daughter. Reflecting on the news that she would finally get to take her 10-pound, healthy daughter home, Turner said with gratitude: “They warned about the things that could happen…it’s a miracle.”
