Baby born at just 14.3 ounces goes home three months later

LAGUNA HILLS, Calif. - A premature baby dubbed ''the pocket baby'' by doctors went home for the first time Saturday, with his parents calling him a miracle.

Ethan Sechrest has grown from 14.3 ounces at birth to a current healthy 3 1/2 pounds. But he's still less than half the birth weight of the average newborn, said Saddleback Memorial Hospital spokeswoman Jennifer D'Andrea.

''I called him the pocket baby, because he could fit in the front pocket of my scrubs,'' said obstetrician Daniel R. Sternfeld, who helped deliver Ethan. ''His chances were so dismal.''

Instead, Ethan became one of the youngest and smallest premature babies to not only survive but to go home completely healthy.

''It's the first time I've ever taken a baby from the operating room to the warmer by cupping it in the palm of one hand,'' neonatologist David L. Vogel, said of Ethan's birth. ''His whole foot was like the size of my fingertip.''

Born three months premature on March 14, Ethan was 10 1/2 inches long. An average-sized full-term baby is about 20 inches long and tips the scales at about eight pounds.

Ethan's mother, Deann Sechrest, was 24 weeks pregnant when she was admitted to Saddleback two weeks before his birth. Babies born that prematurely usually have a 50-50 chance of survival.

Doctors determined Ethan was so small because his mother's placenta wasn't functioning properly and he wasn't getting enough nourishment.

Dr. James T. Kurtzman, a perinatologist, decided to perform an unusual procedure called amino instillation, which involves injecting fluid into the placenta.

As soon as the doctor was through, Ethan's father, Alan Sechrest, saw Ethan start kicking and moving on a monitor.

Ethan was born 10 days later, so small that when his father slipped his wedding ring over Ethan's hand a few days later it slid right up his arm. The hospital's research determined that he was the smallest baby ever born in Orange County.

And Ethan, who has a 4-year-old sister Allison and 2-year-old brother Austin, also managed to survive a mishap during his special care when he turned his head on his own one day, disconnecting his ventilator tube.

Smaller babies have survived elsewhere, including a 14-ounce child born three years ago at Long Beach Hospital in neighboring Los Angeles County.

''We've never seen a baby this size,'' said Dr. Ronald Naglie, who oversees Saddleback's intensive care unit. ''He defied all odds. And just look at him - he's huge now.''