A Manatee County couple is calling their newborn daughter a miracle.

  • Born at only 24 weeks on April 19, Arianna Wade weighed just 11 ounces
  • Parents Charles and Brenda Wade say Arianna is doing well
  • Arianna is the smallest baby born at Sarasota Memorial Hospital

Born on April 19 at only 24 weeks, Arianna Wade weighed just 11 ounces. She is now in the Neo Intensive Care Unit at Sarasota Memorial Hospital.

Her parents, Charles and Brenda Wade, said despite arriving so early, she is doing well and proving to be quite the fighter.

“Even in the womb she was very feisty,” Brenda said. “I was only 24 weeks, which is heartbreaking, to know I had to deliver my baby at 24 weeks.”

Brenda said she was having some medical issues and was forced to deliver her baby early via C-section.

“She has showed us she is here and not going anywhere,” Charles said.

Arianna is now the smallest baby to be born at Sarasota Memorial.

“She literally fits in the palms of your hand,“ Brenda said.

In 1993, a baby just under 13 ounces was born at the hospital. Caci Burke was delivered by Dr. Washington Hill and has grown up to be a healthy young woman.

Hill, who has specialized in babies for over 50 years, warns the Wades have a long road ahead of them, but said medicine has come a long way.

“It’s the progress of many things,” said Hill, who is now a Physician at the Sarasota Department of Health, OBGYN and Maternal and Fetal Medicine. “We have a great ICU and nurses.  It’s the equipment and technology, it’s the steroids and antibiotics.  It’s all these things we can do for mothers and babies.”

Although the baby is doing well and progressing, Arianna will likely stay at the hospital until her original due date in August.

“We still know at the end of the road, when it seems like there is no hope at what the doctors can do, we know who we trust and believe in and that is keep our faith in God,” Charles said.

The Wades are now counting down the days until they can bring their daughter home.

“Our baby is doing great right now,” said Brenda, the baby’s mother. “I believe that she’s going to make it.”