'Miracle baby' born weighing just 1 pound heads home after 3 months in the hospital
A premature newborn delivered 13 weeks early and weighing just 1 pound has gone home after spending the first 104 days of her life at a New York hospital.
Hannah Bella Rodriguez, known near her hometown of East Meadow on Long Island as the "miracle baby," had grown to 5 pounds, 5 ounces when she was officially discharged in a special ceremony at the Nassau University Medical Center at 11 a.m. Tuesday, ABC New York station WABC reported.
Hannah's mother, Jennifer Pena de Mena, was hospitalized in June due to pregnancy complications, and doctors decided to deliver Hannah the next month after her heart rate began to decline.
De Mena said she was "so scared" when she received an emergency C-section to deliver her daughter.
"I was crying in the surgery room, but they held my hands, and they told me everything is for your baby," she told WABC.
Hannah is the smallest baby ever to be born at the hospital and was about the size of an average adult hand at the time.
During the ceremony, de Mena thanked the hospital staff she entrusted with her and Hannah's care.
"I never lost my faith," de Mena said. "She's always going to be my beautiful baby, and I love her."
Doctors allowed Hannah to finally leave hospital walls after she was able to grow and stabilize.
Hannah will continue to attend regular check-ups for premature newborns, but de Mena said she knows "everything is going to be OK."
Editor's note: This story has been updated to correct the baby was born 13 weeks early.
