One of the smallest babies ever born at Ninewells Hospital is celebrating his first birthday today.
Ben Robertson tipped the scales at 14lb 2oz last week, and mum Kerri Flynn says he is developing well.
The tiny tot weighed just 1lb 3oz when he arrived 16 weeks prematurely. Soon after, he underwent intricate heart surgery in Glasgow before being brought back to Ninewells to begin the long road to recovery.
The infant also underwent laser eye surgery to burn away blood vessels at the back of his eyes and had an operation to fix two hernias.
Ben was in hospital for five months before he could go home to Ardler in Dundee with his mum to big sister Ellie (10) and the children’s dad, Jason Robertson. Even then Ben was attached to a tube and cylinder that fed him oxygen to support his immature lungs.
“He is still on oxygen at night time but he is off during the day,” said Kerri.
Being free from the oxygen cylinder during the day is a relatively new experience for the little boy.
“He’s been off during the day for about one and a half weeks now,” said Kerri.
The neonatal service at Ninewells has a well-developed programme of supporting families with babies like Ben at home and helping, often over many months, to wean babies off oxygen support.
Families are trained to operate the equipment before they leave hospital and get visits at home from specialist support nurses. The programme has worked well for Ben.
“He is just amazing,” said his proud mum. “So far everything is fine. He is just about on his feet. He is sitting up and rolling over. He doesn’t drink from a bottle, he drinks from a cup.”
While Ben is celebrating his first birthday today, premature babies’ development is measured roughly against the age they would have been had they been born on their due date.
“He is still only eight months on that measure,” said Kerri.
While he has not been admitted to hospital since he was five months old, Ben still makes regular trips to Ninewells for check-ups and to get a monthly injection to protect him against infections. He will be getting a jag today.