Poppy Bilderbeck
A mum has opened up about how her baby is doing after he arrived three months early, with doctors warning he 'wouldn't survive'.
Saniah Poindexter didn't plan on becoming a mum at the age of 19 while studying Business Management at Grand Rapids Community College in Michigan, US.
The student only discovered she was pregnant in May 2022 after doing a test for a joke with a friend - at first 'nervous' but later 'excited' at the idea of having a baby.
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However, on 13 October, 2022 at 26 weeks pregnant, Saniah's prospects of becoming a parent were put in jeopardy when she came home from college with a high temperature, stomach ache and feeling sick.
The 19-year-old immediately went to hospital on the advice of her mother, Stephanie Dolly Poindexter.
Saniah recalled: "When I came home, I was feeling so sick. I couldn’t even lay down, it got to the point that I was so hot, I stood outside throwing up.
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"[...] I had no complications, I had never felt sick until the day I gave birth. I was sad - I didn’t know what was happening. I did everything I could in my pregnancy to be healthy."
Saniah was sent to the maternity ward after spending 20 minutes in Spectrum Health Butterworth Hospital's emergency department.
She was told by doctors she was in active labour - 14 weeks earlier than expected.
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Doctors then warned Saniah they didn't think her son 'would [...] survive'.
She said: "I cried about it a lot."
Saniah's son defied the odds and was born at 4:00am on 14 October, 2022, weighing a mere 1lbs 11oz, just six hours after she rushed to hospital.
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The three-month premature baby was placed into an incubator in the neonatal intensive care unit immediately after he was born and Saniah was, once again, told she 'would be lucky if he came home'.
Thankfully, Saniah was able to take him home after 'around 70 days' when his weight had increased to 4lbs 8oz.
Saniah named her son Kayden. The mum said: "I knew he was special - he was the smallest boy in the hospital at the time."
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Four months on and Kayden continues to prove doctors wrong and is as 'feisty' as ever.
Saniah resolved: "Bringing him home was the happiest day of my life.
"He is doing great, technically he is one month old - he is making noises and knows how to roll over. He can see me, he is always looking for me - he is a really advanced baby.
"It makes me feel happy."