Baby Autumn Robinson earned herself the nickname “Feisty” when she came out of the womb fighting for her life.
Born weighing just 1.1 pounds after 23 weeks in the womb, Autumn spent more than 500 days battling for her life at Lurie Children’s Hospital in Chicago. This month, her mother finally was allowed to take her home, Newsner reports.
“So, I’m very scared, but I’m also ready,” single mom Tyler Robinson said. “I’ve been preparing for this since she was born.”
Last year, Robinson nearly lost her daughter when she suffered a uterine rupture at 23 weeks of pregnancy, according to the report. She said the doctors did not know if Autumn would survive and asked what should be done if she did.
“If she comes out lifeless, then pass me my baby and I’ll hold her,” Robinson remembered telling the doctors. “If she comes out fighting, then we’re going to fight. She came out feisty and they nicknamed her ‘Feisty.’ From then on, she’s just a fighter.”
Autumn has had to overcome a lot of challenges since then. Because she was born so prematurely, her lungs were underdeveloped and she was diagnosed with bronchopulmonary dysplasia, a chronic disorder, according to the report.
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Dr. Megan Lagoski, a neonatologist at the hospital, said Autumn spent time on a ventilator, and she still has a breathing tube, ABC 7 Chicago reports.
“She has a tube in her neck to help her breathe at home, she gets fed through a G-tube through her stomach,” Lagoski said. “So she’s very technology dependent.”
Still, doctors are hopeful about the baby girl’s future.
“She looks fantastic,” Lagoski continued. “She’s working on getting developmental milestones, she’s rolling all over the place, she smiles, she laughs.”
Robinson said the hospital staff have become like family to them, so going home felt bittersweet.
“Me sitting up in here, by myself, for most days, they are my family,” Robinson said. “Me, sitting here, and I have nobody to talk to or vent to; that’s who is here for these families. I’m going to miss this place terribly.”
At the same time, the young mother said she is very excited to begin life at home with her daughter.
“I’m very excited, I’m ready, nervous, anxious, but it’s been long overdue,” Robinson said.
More premature babies are surviving and thriving thanks to modern medicine. In November, Guinness World Records recognized an Alabama boy who was born at 21 weeks as the youngest premature baby to survive. Curtis Means was born weighing 14.8 ounces at 21 weeks and one day in July 2020. In 2017, the journal Pediatrics highlighted the story of another girl who survived after being born at 21 weeks and four days of pregnancy.
