‘He’s a little fighter,’ said mum Krysten Risbon, 22, of her newborn son. ‘He’s a miracle.’

Born 16 weeks early, Zaylan Reed weighed just 1lb 6 oz when he was born — and doctors said he wouldn’t make it.

‘When I first held him he sat in my bra,’ said Krysten, from Altoona, Pennsylvania. ‘Now only his foot fits in.’

When he was born, baby Zaylan had a hole in his heart and ROP – an eye disease which can occur when babies are born prematurely – but after 181 days on and off oxygen in the hospital he’s at home and healthy.

When Krysten went into labour at 23 weeks and six days, doctors assumed the bleeding she was experiencing was the result of a yeast infection.

‘I instantly started having more pain,’ recalled Krysten. ‘I was up all night screaming.’

When the couple returned to the hospital, they found she was 4 cm dilated.  Kaylan was told she was going to have her baby that day, but that he probably wouldn’t make it. 

‘I started crying,’ said Kaylen, who was taken by helicopter to UPMC Magee-Womens Hospital which has specialist tiny baby equipment.

‘It was scary,’ she said. ‘I just kept thinking ‘please just get us there’.

‘Nobody could come with me. I just felt like everything was going to be ok.’

Doctors were able to postpone the birth by two days, until December 23, 2022, when Zaylan was born. 

Dad Janerio Reed, 20, cut the cord before Zaylan was taken to the neonatal unit. 

‘When they took him down I was pretty scared,’ said Krysten. ‘He was so tiny he fit in the palm of my hand.’

Zayaln was put on oxygen and had surgery to improve has eyesight and was eventually fitted with a feeding tube.

Thankfully, he was able to come home on June 21, 2023.

Now, Krysten is studying to become a NICU nurse, inspired by her son’s experience. 

‘It was unreal having him home,’ she said. ‘He’s pretty funny. He’s a grump – he gives me the side eye. He smiles and laughs all the time.’

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