CHARLOTTE, N.C. -- He was born more than four months premature and doctors told his parents their son couldn't possibly survive.
Every day was a new struggle.
Pierce Franks was born when his mom, Lindsay Franks, was barely even showing.
She wasn't even six months pregnant. He weighed just 1.8 ounces.
The odds were he wasn't going to make it,” said Neonatologist Dr. Tom Keuser.
Lindsay said, “Nobody would tell us what his chances were for survival…you could see it on their faces they didn't think there was any hope.”
When Pierce was just four days old, the young couple was urgently awakened -- told to run to their son's side.
“He said, ‘I do know this is certain death…it’s time to come hold him now’ and he said ‘I never want a mother to not hold her child alive,’” said Lindsay.
They held Pierce, said goodbye and for 24 hours waited for the end.
“By the end of the day they were calling him a little miracle baby.”
But there was still a long journey ahead at Carolinas Medical Center’s NICU.
“Every day, those first couple of weeks, we were helping hold the parents’ hands waiting for him to pass away,” said Dr. Keuser.
With each day, a new challenge is presented.
The neonatologist told us, “He essentially almost died a number of times.”
At just two weeks Pierce had heart surgery.
“Day to day for the family - is just living through - we tell them to go through each day at a time…when the babies are born that early, every organ system from the brain can start acting up.”
The family documented it all on their blog -- from when the ventilator was removed and they heard him cry for the first time, to the time they gave Pierce his first bath.
Thousands started to check in to see Pierce's progress. Because so many people can relate -- doctors in the NICU are saving more preemies than ever before.
“When I first started, babies under 30 weeks didn't survive, now babies under 23 weeks, like Pierce, have a chance to survive.”
After 118 days in the NICU, Pierce went home.
He recently had brain surgery because of an earlier brain bleed and surprised his doctors again.
Dad Nik Franks said, “You could tell they were genuinely baffled at how big he was for a 23 weeker!”
And now at seven months, his parents use hand sanitizer 30 times a day, Pierce is still hooked up to monitors.
But he continues to surprise.
“He eats well, he’s gaining weight well...developmentally he is ahead of schedule. Just the fact that he’s here -- alive -- is a miracle.”
