World's smallest surviving baby heads home after 5 months in the hospital

Weighing only 8.6 ounces at birth, the world's smallest baby ever to survive was able to go home earlier this month after spending five months at the Sharp Mary Birch Hospital for Women & Newborns in San Diego.

The hospital announced her birth on Wednesday, and said the previous smallest baby was born in Germany in 2015, weighing seven grams more. Nicknamed Saybie by her medical team, the San Diego baby was born in December, just 23 weeks and three days into her mother's 40-week pregnancy. Her mother, who asked her name not be used, was experiencing complications, and after doctors realized the baby was not gaining weight, said she had to undergo an emergency C-section.

"They told my husband that he had an hour with her and then she was going to pass away," she said. "But that hour turned into two hours, which turned into a day, which turned into a week." Saybie had a team working with her over the last five months, which included nurses, neonatologists, and various therapists. Every time she hit a milestone, like gaining a pound or being removed from a breathing tube, the nurses put up a sign to decorate her crib. When doctors determined it was safe for her to go home, a graduation was held in the neonatal intensive care unit, with Saybie wearing a tiny cap. She now weighs 5.6 pounds and is 16 inches long. "There's nothing she can't do," nurse Emma Wiest said.