Presbyterian Healthcare 
2001 News Releases
One of Tiniest Babies to Survive Finally Goes Home
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May 10, 2001 Contact: Kevin M. McCarthy, Presbyterian Healthcare, 704-384-9669 |
Just in time to celebrate Mothers Day, a tiny baby girl named Destiny is finally going home from Presbyterian Hospital, where she was born last summer.
Born three months premature, she weighed only 10.4 ozs. (286 grams) when she was delivered by Caesarean section on June 24, 2000. Considered to be "extremely low birth weight," Destiny Kennedy is one of the smallest babies ever to survive a premature delivery. She is believed to be the smallest baby in North Carolina to have survived.
Now weighing 6 lbs., 7.9 ozs., Destiny still weighs less than the average full-term baby of about 8 pounds. Her birth weight was equal to slightly over 2 ½ sticks of butter.
Destinys parents, Kim and Tavel Kennedy of Charlotte, will have round-the-clock nursing care at home for the next two weeks. But both have become familiar with caring for their daughter, who has had her own room in Presbyterian Hospital's Intensive Care Nursery. Kim also has become a certified nurses assistant since her daughter was born.
Since her birth, Destiny has undergone several procedures including abdominal surgeries and eye surgery for a condition affecting the retina of premature babies.
"You have to be positive. You have to know in your heart everythings going to be OK," said Kim Kennedy as she prepared to leave the hospital. "Weve learned not to take anything for granted." Kim said she and her husband have gotten through the past year with the support of family and friends, along with the nurses and doctors who have prayed for their tiny daughter and also shed tears when her condition was serious.
The survival rate for extremely low birth weight babies has increased dramatically during the past decade. In 1990 the survival rate for babies born at 24 weeks was only 24 percent. Today, the survival rate is in the 75-90 percent range. Technology developed in the past decade to help these babies survive includes high-tech ventilators, incubators with humidifiers that help with babies' high fluid loss, artificial surfactant to help keep the air sacs from collapsing, and improved feeding systems.
Presbyterian Hospital cared for 418 babies in its intensive care nursery last year with an average daily census of 38.
From the pediatric social workers and the nutritionist to the many nurses who cared for her in the intensive care nursery, the staff said their goodbyes and the Kennedys left as a family to head for home. Dad Tavel hopes to sit at home with his family tonight and watch the Charlotte Hornets on TV.
Dressed in a preemie outfit that still is too big and her "running socks," Destinys homecoming was complete with pink balloons and a welcome home sign.
Born three months premature, she weighed only 10.4 ozs. (286 grams) when she was delivered by Caesarean section on June 24, 2000. Considered to be "extremely low birth weight," Destiny Kennedy is one of the smallest babies ever to survive a premature delivery. She is believed to be the smallest baby in North Carolina to have survived.
Now weighing 6 lbs., 7.9 ozs., Destiny still weighs less than the average full-term baby of about 8 pounds. Her birth weight was equal to slightly over 2 ½ sticks of butter.
Destinys parents, Kim and Tavel Kennedy of Charlotte, will have round-the-clock nursing care at home for the next two weeks. But both have become familiar with caring for their daughter, who has had her own room in Presbyterian Hospital's Intensive Care Nursery. Kim also has become a certified nurses assistant since her daughter was born.
Since her birth, Destiny has undergone several procedures including abdominal surgeries and eye surgery for a condition affecting the retina of premature babies.
"You have to be positive. You have to know in your heart everythings going to be OK," said Kim Kennedy as she prepared to leave the hospital. "Weve learned not to take anything for granted." Kim said she and her husband have gotten through the past year with the support of family and friends, along with the nurses and doctors who have prayed for their tiny daughter and also shed tears when her condition was serious.
The survival rate for extremely low birth weight babies has increased dramatically during the past decade. In 1990 the survival rate for babies born at 24 weeks was only 24 percent. Today, the survival rate is in the 75-90 percent range. Technology developed in the past decade to help these babies survive includes high-tech ventilators, incubators with humidifiers that help with babies' high fluid loss, artificial surfactant to help keep the air sacs from collapsing, and improved feeding systems.
Presbyterian Hospital cared for 418 babies in its intensive care nursery last year with an average daily census of 38.
From the pediatric social workers and the nutritionist to the many nurses who cared for her in the intensive care nursery, the staff said their goodbyes and the Kennedys left as a family to head for home. Dad Tavel hopes to sit at home with his family tonight and watch the Charlotte Hornets on TV.
Dressed in a preemie outfit that still is too big and her "running socks," Destinys homecoming was complete with pink balloons and a welcome home sign.
