A baby believed to be the third smallest birth-weight infant ever to survive left County-USC Medical Center Friday almost five months after her premature birth. Melinda Star Guido weighed only 9 1/2 ounces when she was born 16 weeks premature. She was the second smallest baby to survive in the U.S., and the third smallest in the world. Melinda was so tiny she could fit into the palm of her doctor's hand.

Melinda star Guido:one of the smallest baby of the world

Now, Melinda weighs 4 1/2 pounds and has made enough progress to be discharged, doctors said. During her pregnancy, Melinda's mother, 22-year-old Haydee Ibarra suffered from high blood pressure. The decision was made to deliver Melinda by caesarian section when a problem developed with the placenta, which gives the fetus nutrition, blood and oxygen. Most babies her size do not survive, doctors said, but Melinda defied the odds.

Baby compared eith the palm

She spent the first months of her life inside an incubator in the neonatal intensive care unit. A machine helped her breathe, and she got her nutrition through a feeding tube. The hospital staff says it will keep a close eye on Melinda for the next six years. Children born extremely premature can suffer developmental delays and other problems, including blindness or deafness, according to doctors. But for now, Melinda is doing very well.
 The doctor estimated that the cost of medical care for the infant has run between $500,000 and $700,000 Results of a brain scan on Melinda two weeks ago looked normal, and Ramanathan said his team was "cautiously optimistic about how the baby is going to do" over time.
 The smallest surviving baby ever born is listed as Rumaisa Rahman, who in 2004 was born in Illinois weighing only 9.2 ounces, according to the University of Iowa Children's Hospital Tiniest Babies Registry.