Oregon's tiniest preemie is 1
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BEAVERTON, Ore. -- Their '84 Geo has no back seat. Dad isn't working and mom is sick. Diapers, doctors' appointments, a decent car - the Wisdoms have worries.
But baby Sophia isn't one of them.
The smallest infant to survive in Oregon wakes up with a winning smile that seems endless. She weighs almost 14 pounds - a 2,000 percent increase over when she was born a year ago today.
She talks. She walks, holding her mother's fingers and stepping high. She tugs at the telephone, her dad's beard, doctors' hearts.
"She's a little fighter. Right from the start, in her Isolette, she was a strong baby and did so well," said Dr. Kari Smart, her pediatrician at Kaiser Permanente Tualatin clinic.
Sophia Epiphany Louise Wisdom weighed 10.5 ounces when she was born 15 weeks early - the second-smallest infant in the nation to survive, according to the University of Iowa data registry of tiniest babies.
Sophia's mother, Tracy Ekwall Wisdom, was at a routine appointment three months before her due date when an ultrasound revealed the baby was not growing. Wisdom, 30, has an autoimmune disease that affects the placenta. She underwent a Caesarean section March 5, 2000.
The baby born was smaller than doctors expected - half the size of average babies that gestational age. But weight isn't as critical as developmental maturity, said Dr. Edward Bell, professor of pediatrics at the University of Iowa and founder of the registry.
Most neonatologists tell families that babies less than 24 weeks will not survive. And for babies born at 25 weeks, one-third can expect to have developmental delays and face cerebral palsy, blindness and learning disabilities, said Dr. Ronald Sklar, Sophia's neonatologist based at Providence St. Vincent Medical Center.
"My greatest worry was her developmental skills," said Sklar. Doctors expected some delay. But though she is still small next to her peers, Sophia's coordination, ability to pick up objects and social interaction rival other 12-month-olds.
"There is no way you could tell she was a premature baby. I'm tremendously pleased with how she's done," Sklar said.
When the Wisdoms left the hospital in early June, they had no home of their own. Carrying Sophia's oxygen tank and heart monitor, they moved in with relatives.
Tracy's first pregnancy ended with a little boy stillborn at seven months. Nine miscarriages followed. The couple had stopped trying to have children when they learned they were expecting.
After Sophia was born, they lived in an apartment provided by Providence St. Vincent. The couple married April 2. The minister gave them $100 for their wedding supper.
"It was my fault we hadn't gotten married," said Robert Wisdom, 29. Wisdom, who dropped out of school after ninth grade and had an arrest record for getting in fights, said the baby "calmed us down."
"It's made him grow up and settle down. He really did a complete turnabout," said his mother, Bonnie Wisdom. "Sometimes people need something like this to make them grow up and become more mature. They're great parents. He's really astounded me."
"I feel like God had given us this chance," Tracy said.
For months, Sophia required an exhausting regimen of feedings and numerous doctor and physical therapist visits. She was on oxygen until July 12.
Robert went to work driving a cab in Portland, but quit after Tracy, who has suffered ministrokes and seizures over the years, suffered another one in November while holding the baby. The infant rolled out of her arms and onto the couch. Now the couple are afraid to leave Tracy alone with the baby.
The couple rely on federally subsidized housing, public assistance and some food stamps. Their large, close-knit family also helps out.
Wisdom knows he has to get a job and fix the car. But the couple have been away from Sophia just once, leaving her with family members for a few hours while they attended a blues festival. She sleeps between them, "rotating like a clock." Their living room is Sophia Central - books, blocks and Elmo.