ORLANDO, Fla. – Babies born too early are often hospitalized for weeks or months in specialized neonatal intensive care units.
A cutting-edge system is now helping the tiniest patients thrive in an environment -- much like the one they just left.
Remi Jolliff came into the world at 24 weeks and five days -- three-and-a-half months before she was due. Remi weighed 1.6 pounds.
Preemies like Remi have no fat at all to keep them warm.
AdventHealth in Orlando is now the first in the country to test Babyleo, an innovative high-tech system that in some ways simulates a mother's womb.
"There's a little device that lays on the baby's skin. It's like a thermometer. A little sticker goes over it keeping it on the baby's skin, and it goes into the isolette," AdventHealth NICU nurse manager Michael O'Brien said.
That way a computer system constantly monitors the baby's temperature, keeping him at 98.6 by automatically turning on and off warmers in the crib. The Babyleo also gently mists sterile water to adjust the humidity.
"Remember, the premature baby was floating in amniotic fluid inside the mom and the skin is not ready to be out in the dry, dry air," O'Brien said.
Remi's parents take comfort knowing their daughter is getting specialized care and takes away some of the trauma from her early delivery.
"Think of it as, 'They just couldn't wait to meet you.' That's what we tell ourselves. Yep. She was just so excited to meet her mom and dad. She couldn't wait," said Jessica and Christopher Jolliff.
Before the Babyleo, NICU nurses would have to manually adjust warmers in the isolettes to ensure preemies stayed at normal body temperature.
Remi is scheduled to remain in the NICU until the beginning of February, when she was originally due.