MIAMI (WSVN) - A Miami mother marked a very special milestone when she was able to bring her infant son home from the hospital, months after he came into the world prematurely.
Claudia Bien-Aimé said to bring her baby boy Samuel home is a Christmas miracle in more ways than one.
“I’m so happy that now I’m going home with him,” she said.
It’s a moment the new mother once thought would never happen. She said she had been struggling to conceive for years.
“I had five miscarriages before I had him,” she said.
Bien-Aimé suffers from a condition that complicates her pregnancy at around 20 weeks. While pregnant with Samuel, that’s exactly what happened.
The mother said she began having complications, and her water broke while she was in the hospital.
“He was born very early, at 23 weeks,” said Dr. Cristina Navarrete, a pediatrician at the hospital.
But after he was born about three months before his due date, Samuel proved he was a born fighter.
“Little Samuel is beating all the odds,” said Bien-Aimé.
Samuel remained at Holtz Children’s Hospital for four months before he was released.
“It was a rough course, as we expected it to be, but he’s like a full-term baby now,” said Navarrete. “He met all his goals. He started to breathe on his own, came off of his oxygen need, and now he’s nipple feeding and thriving and growing, just in time for mommy to have him for Christmas.”
Samuel, who currently weighs 5 pounds, 2 ounces, is on the road to recovery. Doctors said the chances of this outcome in a case like this are usually slim to none.
“It’s very important. This is what we want to see, for babies who are born at six months and slightly earlier like Samuel,” said Navarrete. “Not all of them survive, and for Samuel to survive is a big deal.”
Bien-Aimé said she is now looking forward to spending the holidays with her bundle of joy.
“I am very happy, so excited,” she said.
The mother said she plans to keep her Christmas private as she settles little Samuel in so he can continue on his road to recovery.
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