Born four months early, Jaden Wesley has a long road to recovery. A baby boy born weighing just 13 ounces is growing and thriving despite doctors’ fears that the newborn would not be able to survive such a premature birth.
Iowa native Ellonn Smartt had been pregnant for just 23 weeks when she went into labor. Fearing the worst, she was rushed to the hospital for an emergency cesarean section on July 11. ABC reports that Ellonn recalled how she felt when she while taken in for the procedure:
“I started bawling my eyes out,” Smartt, 25, of Des Moines, Iowa, told ABC News on Tuesday. “I had dreamt of a perfect pregnancy and I thought everything was going great. All my appointments were fine, I was healthy, I ate right.” She added, “I did everything I was supposed to do.”
Once the operation was successfully finished, doctors at the Blank Children’s Hospital were relieved to find the tiny baby wiggling and breathing on his own. The boy, named Jaden Wesley, was born at just one tenth of the average newborn weight.
Smartt described to ABC news the first time she saw Jaden:
“All I could see was his hat,” Smartt said. “His hat was huge on him, but I thought, ‘OK, that’s my baby.’”
While the doctors are hesitant to comment on Jaden’s condition, Ellonn said they are taking it “day by day” and she hopes to bring Jaden home in November, around the time when the boy was initially due to be born.
In order to pay for the unexpected medical bills that come with such an extreme delivery, Jaden’s parents have set up a GoFundMe page, which has already more than doubled their goal of $2,500, with over $5,800.
