Immediately after birth, officials were surprised how small Guido was. “Global Birth Registry figures show that combining both gestational age and weight, Melinda is the third smallest baby ever born in the world. She was just 24 weeks old and weighed only 270 grams” they said in a news statement a the time.

In December, Dr. Rangasamy Ramanathan, Chief of the Neonatology Section, said the situation was still cautious. By the middle of last month, Melinda had grown to four pounds inside a USC hospital incubator.

Dr Ramanathan had told new that, in 2010, only ten children survived after weighing less than a pound at birth. At the time, Melinda appeared to have no other medical complications.

Now at more than 4.5 pounds, doctors believe that she is healthy enough to be discharged. They are still unsure how well she will develop. But they plan to monitor her regularly for the next six years. She is set go home today, after being born last August.