PHILADELPHIA -
If you don't believe in miracles, this story may change your mind. A baby born was 16 weeks early, too young to survive, much less thrive. And yet she has.
At six pounds two ounces, baby Mariyah Taylor-Williams is a heavyweight, compared to the day she was born.
Dr. Oge Menkiti, a neo-natologist at St. Christopher's Hospital in the Kensington section of Philadelphia, told FOX 29 Mariyah fit in his hand comfortably. She was tiny, weighing in at 430 grams. That's less than one pound.
"They said we should not expect much," Mariyah's father Damion Williams said. "Her chance of survival is very , very slim. So she might live for a couple of hours and that's it." That was on March 10th. "Two surgeries, blood transfusions, everything you can think of this baby has been through," Mariyah's mother Shaquanda Taylor explained. "But she survived."
Mariyah had stopped growing in the womb. Doctors told her parents unless they delivered her at 24 weeks, she would be stillborn. A choice no mother should ever have to make. And yet Mariyah's mother just knew. "I knew it, I knew it. I knew it in my heart, I knew it in my mind. I knew Mariyah was going to be here. She proved them all wrong."
Since then, Mariyah's devoted parents have visited every single day. "Just for her to know that we're here because we see her react to that, so I know that it means something," Williams said. Even if she did survive, doctors predicted a grim future filled with complications. But Mariyah surprised them again.
"She's done well and you know, she's been able to survive with little or no problems," Dr. Oge Menkiti said. "She's feisty, she's eating, I'm so proud of her," Taylor added.
When FOX 29 visited Mariyah in the hospital Friday, she was crying and fussing -- normally not a great thing. But in this case it's exactly what Mariyah's parents want to hear, because it means she's thriving, she's healthy, and she wants a little attention.
"I've never experienced nothing like this in my life," Williams glowed. "I mean, she's definitely a miracle baby."
Mariyah's mother couldn't agree more.
"I'm thankful, I'm grateful. Every morning I wake up, I'm grateful. Everything that used to bother me, everything that used to make me upset, I'm just happy all the time."
The baby who was never supposed to make it will be going home soon. Her doctor expects to release her from the hospital early next month.
