Bringing home a little Hope

Brenda Levos hold her daughter Hope, born 15 weeks premature and weighing only 14 ounces at the time. Hope went home from Dakota Heartland Hospital Thursday.Parents, schooled in raising tiny infant, bring child home for the first time.

by Ellen Crawford/The Forum

Hope Levos went home to Leonard, N.D., Thursday afternoon, the first time she's been out of the hospital since she was born four months ago.

She was born the day before Thanksgiving, nearly 15 weeks early. She weighed 14 ounces, only 2 ounces more than the smallet known infant to survive premature birth. Hope wasn't any larger than the length of her doctor's hand.

Now she weighs 4 pounds 8 ounces and has a very good chance of developing normally, according to Dr. Mahesh Patel, assistant director of neonatology at Fargo's Dakota Heartland Health System.

Hope's parents, Brenda and Tom Levos, are excited to have her home and they're not overly nervous about taking care of her without the hospital staff around them.

"It shouldn't be too bad," Tom said.

Brenda said they've been helping care for Hope since she was born, so they know what they need to do. Hope's parents visited her every day, held her, fed her and learned how to read the equipment monitoring her breathing and heartbeat.

If they do need help, Brenda said they've got plenty of eager volunteers — parents, grandparents, aunts, uncles and even some great-aunts and great-uncles.

Brenda and Tom spent Wednesday night with Hope in the intensive care nursery's parenting room to prepare them for being parents full time. Hope slept from 1 to 6 a.m., which Brenda thinks is an encouraging sign.

"It's kind of nice to be able to take a baby home that partially sleeps through the night." she said.

Hope went home with an oxygen machine and equipment to monitor her oxygen levels and heart rate. Patel said she still requires a very small amount of oxygen and probably will continue to need it for one to three months.

He estimates she'll need to have her heart rate monitored for three to four months. Premature babies run a slightly higher risk of dying from sudden infant death syndrome, he said.

Brenda said she and Tom are so used to Hhope's size that other babies look huge to them.

"You lose your perspective," she siad.

They've found a shop in West Fargo that carries clothes for premature babies.

"We now get the bulk discount," Brenda joked.

Baby who weighed 14 ounces improving

by Ellen Crawford/The Forum

If Hope Levos keeps gaining weight, she could be going home in little more than a week, her doctor says.

She weighed a mere 14 ounces and was nearly 15 weeks premature when she was born the day before Thanksgiving. She's been at Fargo's Dakota Heartland Hospital on South University since was born.

"She's about 3 1/2 pounds now, and I expect her to go home before Easter," Dr. Ravi Agarwal, director of neonatology at Dakota Heartland.

Agarwal wants her to weigh at least 4 pounds 6 ounces before she leaves the hospital.

He estimates she may be ready to head home about March 24 if she continues growing approximately an ounce a day.

"She's doing extremely well," he says.

Hope is Brenda and Tom Levos' first child. The rural Leonard, N.D., couple had been trying to have a baby for about 1 1/2 years when Brenda became pregnant.

The early part of her pregnancy was uneventful, then she got a sharp pain in her abdomen two days before Thanksgiving. Her doctor discovered that her blood pressure was dangerously high and her liver was starting to shut down. She would have to have a cesarean section, the doctor said.

Hope weighed only 1 1/2 ounces more than Trent Petrie, the Dilworth boy who was the smallest know infant to survive premature birth. Trent is 11 now.

Agarwal says Hope doesn't have problems with her sight, bleeding in her head or the major respiratory troubles that blague many premature babies and she is breathing on her own.

Hope's parents take turns spending time with her every day. They've become experts at reading the equipment that's monitoring her heartbeat and other vital signs.

"They are very good parents," Agarwal says.

The Levoses say they'd like to have more children despite the worry that's come with the first one.

"It's got to get better," Tom says.