Born Four Months Early at Just Over 1 Pound, Baby Journey Ossenkopp Went Home to Westchester After 8 Months in the Hospital
When Journey Ossenkopp arrived in February, she was about four months early and weighed a little more than 1 pound. On Monday, Nov. 2, after about 8 months of hospital care, she went home to Westchester County, New York, with her parents, Jesse and Danaies Ossenkopp, People reported.
She now breathes on her own but still needs a feeding tube, and her parents were trained to handle it before she left, according to the same report.
February: Born Four Months Early, Barely Over a Pound
Journey was born in February, roughly four months before her due date, weighing a little more than 1 pound. Her father described her to People as hand-sized, with skinny little limbs, and said that “didn’t stop her from kicking.”
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention defines preterm birth as a baby born before 37 weeks of pregnancy, and says about 1 in 10 U.S. infants were born preterm in 2022. It adds that babies born very early, especially before 32 weeks, face higher rates of death and disability, and that the brain, lungs and liver need the final weeks of pregnancy to develop fully.
The reports on Journey do not give her gestational age or the name of the hospital where she was born, only that she was born about four months early. The CDC also lists breathing problems and feeding difficulties among the long-term effects that can follow preterm birth, which is the territory her care team has been working in since February.
Spring and Summer: Heart and Lung Complications
Journey had serious heart and lung complications linked to her premature birth, according to People. She developed patent ductus arteriosus, known as PDA, a heart condition, and breathing problems caused by underdeveloped lungs.
A factsheet from Sydney Children’s Hospitals Network explains that a PDA is a blood vessel that normally closes over the first few days after birth, that it is more common in premature babies, and that it affects up to 60 percent of babies born before 28 weeks. Small ones may close without treatment, babies may be given ibuprofen, and surgery is used if medication does not work. The factsheet does not say which approach Journey’s doctors used, and neither does the report on her.
The March of Dimes lists both heart and breathing problems among the common complications of premature birth: respiratory distress syndrome and bronchopulmonary dysplasia, and patent ductus arteriosus. The organization says preterm babies stay in the neonatal intensive care unit until their organs can function without medical support, and that some need weeks or months before they can breathe on their own and feed by mouth.
People reported that Journey spent 8 months in care at a New York children’s hospital and then at Blythedale Children’s Hospital in Valhalla, where she has been treated since August.
Long hospital stays like hers are not unusual for the smallest babies. Parent Diaries has also followed Baby Quinn Hackett, born at 25 weeks, whose parents hope to bring her home by Thanksgiving, and a 1-pound baby named Isabella who was reunited with the paramedic who helped her.
The nurses who cared for Journey gave her a nickname. “They called her tiny but mighty,” Danaies Ossenkopp told People.
August: The Move to Blythedale Children’s Hospital
In August, Journey moved to Blythedale, where, according to People, she was treated for PDA and for breathing problems caused by underdeveloped lungs.
Blythedale describes itself on its website as New York State’s only independent specialty children’s hospital, at 95 Bradhurst Avenue in Valhalla. It offers post-acute neonatal care and can admit patients directly from an intensive care unit or NICU. The hospital says 65 percent of its patients are referred that way and 91 percent are discharged home.
Blythedale’s website lists inpatient care with pediatricians available around the clock, along with treatment areas that include pulmonary rehabilitation and specialized feeding. It also describes a Health Home Care Management program that helps families through complicated discharge plans and aims to keep children out of the hospital after they leave.
The hospital also says its parent and family education program trains families to care for their child before discharge. That training is central to Journey’s story, because her feeding tube is the care her parents now provide themselves.
Nov. 2: Discharge, a Feeding Tube and “Fresh Air”
People reported that Journey was discharged on Monday, Nov. 2, after 8 months of care. The story ran the next day, Nov. 3, and described the discharge as having already happened.
Dr. Doris Rivera-Araujo of Blythedale said the family has “been thoroughly trained on inserting that tube, removing that tube, and also feeding her through that tube.” Being trained and at home, she said, means Journey does not have to stay in the hospital.
The March of Dimes says a premature baby can usually go home when the baby weighs at least 4 pounds, stays warm without an incubator, feeds by breast or bottle, gains weight steadily and breathes without help. It adds that some babies need equipment, medicine or other treatment at home, that staff can teach parents to provide it, and that regular checkups with a neonatologist follow discharge to monitor health and development. The page does not mention feeding tubes, and the reports on Journey do not say which of those criteria she met or what her follow-up schedule will be.
Jesse Ossenkopp said the moment still felt unreal. “It doesn’t feel real yet,” he said. As the family left, People recorded him saying “Yay!” and Danaies adding, “Fresh air!”
The report describes a baby with character. Her father told People, “Oh, this one has character.” For the family, the next chapter is a living room instead of a hospital room, with a feeding tube they now know how to manage and a baby who weighed a little over a pound when she started.
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This article was produced with AI assistance and edited for accuracy against the sources linked above.
Image: Jim.henderson – CC0/Wikimedia Commons
