Little Melinda is a star

3rd-tiniest surviving infant goes home

LOS ANGELES — One of the world’s smallest surviving babies was discharged Friday from the hospital where she spent nearly five months in an incubator — but not before getting the Hollywood treatment.

Wearing a pink knit hat and wrapped in a pink princess blanket, Melinda Star Guido was greeted by a mob of television cameras and news photographers outside the Los Angeles County-usc Medical Center.

“I’m just happy that she’s doing well,” said her 22-yearold mother, Haydee Ibarra. “I’m happy that I’m finally going to take her home. ... I’m just grateful.”

Melinda was born on August 30 weighing just 91/ ounces, less than a can of soda. She was so tiny that she fit into her doctor’s hand. Melinda is believed to be the world’s third-smallest surviving baby and the second-smallest in the U.S.

Now weighing 4½ pounds and breathing through an oxygen tube as a precaution, doctors said Melinda has made enough progress to go home. Her brain scan was normal, and her eyes were developing well. She also passed a hearing test and a car seat test that’s required of premature babies before discharge.

It’s too early to know how she will do developmentally and physically, but doctors planned to monitor her for the next six years.

“I am cautiously optimistic that the baby will do well, but again there is no guarantee,” said Dr. Rangasamy Ramanathan, who oversees preemies at the hospital.

Most babies as small don’t survive even with advanced medical care. About 7,500 babies are born each year in the U.S. weighing less than 1 pound, and about 10 percent survive.

Melinda has come a long way since being delivered by cesarean section at 24 weeks after her mother developed high blood pressure during pregnancy, which can be dangerous for mother and fetus.

Infants born before 37 weeks are considered premature.