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Baby born at 22 weeks weighing only 1 pound finally heads home

A’zharayah is a central Indiana baby who was born at only 22 weeks and is leaving the Peyton Manning Children’s Hospital after a nearly five-month stay in the NICU.

INDIANAPOLIS — (WTHR) - Meet baby A'zharayah. She’s quite a cutie and quite a fighter. 

A’zharayah is a central Indiana baby who was born at only 22 weeks and is leaving the Peyton Manning Children’s Hospital after a nearly five-month stay in the NICU. 

“This baby in particular, she needed assistance for a month on a breathing machine,” Dr. Taha BenSaad said. “We call it a non-invasive ventilator. She was breathing on her own, but she needed support. But then that's gradually weaned off, and now she's breathing on her own. She's only going home with nasal cannula, just a little bit of oxygen to help her out.”

A'zharayah was born Jan. 31 and only weighed one pound. She has made very steady progress over her time under constant care at Peyton Manning Children's Hospital and she now weighs almost seven pounds. 

Dr. BenSaad said that if A'zharayah was born at 22 weeks just 20 years ago, she would not have survived. 

“This baby, she did really well, and we are actually very happy that she will be going home today,” Dr. BenSaad says. “It’s a big, big milestone for us.”

This was a challenging time for her mom, Brittany Garnett, as COVID restrictions meant that no other family members had not been able to meet baby A'zharayah...until she finally went home on Monday. 

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