‘He was so tiny he fit in my bra’: Baby boy born weighing just 1 POUND finally home after 181 days in hospital

A mom who was told her baby ‘wouldn’t make it’ after he was born so tiny he fit in her bra is now home and thriving after 181 days in the hospital.

Zaylan Reed, from Altoona, Pennsylvania, weighed just 1lb 6oz when he was born after Krysten Risbon, 22, went into labor at 23 weeks and six days — 16 weeks early.

He had a hole in his heart and spent the next few months on and off ventilators because his lungs were too immature to help him breathe on their own.

But ‘miracle’ baby Zaylan is finally home and thriving, and Krysten, inspired by her time in the hospital,  is now studying to become a neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) nurse.

Ms Ribson and Janerio Reed, 20, (pictured left) were over the moon when they found out they were expecting their first baby in August 2022. When he was born, Zaylan had a hole in his heart and spent the next 181 days on and off oxygen

Ms Ribson said: ‘When I first held him, he sat in my bra. Now only his foot fits in.

‘They had told us he probably wasn’t going to make it. He’s a little fighter. He’s a miracle.’

Ms Ribson and Janerio Reed, 20, a detailer, were over the moon when they found out they were expecting their first baby in August 2022.

Ms Ribson started bleeding at 23 weeks and six days and went to the hospital, but doctors assumed it was a yeast infection and sent her home with medication.

But her pain only got worse. ‘I was up all night screaming,’ she said.

The couple returned to the hospital when the pain didn’t ease and doctors discovered she was 4cm dilated.

Ms Ribson said: ‘They said – “You’re going to have this baby today. He’s probably not going to make it”. I started crying.’

The mom-to-be was taken by helicopter to UPMC Magee-Womens Hospital, which has specialist tiny baby equipment.

Doctors gave her steroids to help the baby’s lungs and were able to halt the birth for another two days, until December 23, 2022.

Mr Reed cut the cord before his son was whisked to the neonatal unit.

Each year in the US, about 5,000 babies are born in the uncertain window between 22 and 23 weeks.

Babies born earlier than 22 weeks are generally too physically underdeveloped to be successfully treated with intensive care and have just a 30 percent chance of survival.

Ms Ribson said: ‘When they took him down, I was pretty scared. He was so tiny he fit in the palm of my hand.’

Zaylan was born with a hole in his heart and spent the next 181 days on and off oxygen.

He had surgery after being born with ROP – an eye disease that can occur when babies are born prematurely – to improve his eyesight.

Finally, after being fitted with a feeding tube, Zaylan was able to come home June 21 2023.

Ms Ribson said: ‘It was unreal having him home. It’s pretty insane. I can’t believe how small he was.

‘He used to hold my finger with his whole hand. He used to be the size of a thumbprint on his foot.’

She said: ‘He’s pretty funny. He’s a grump – he gives me the side eye.’

But she added that he also ‘smiles and laughs all the time.’

Ms Ribson is due to attend Mount Aloysius College in the fall to be a nurse.