Ricardo Coronado weighed slightly more than a pint of milk when he was born at St. Francis Medical Center on June 23 at 1 pound 3 ounces. Wednesday, after more than three months in the hospital, he goes home.

The baby is the smallest and youngest delivered and cared for by Penrose-St. Francis Health Services staff. He was born at 23 weeks, a gestational age with a survival rate less than 25 percent, according to many neonatologists. He spent his first several weeks of life on a ventilator.

Ricardo’s prognosis is good, Penrose-St. Francis reports, and he is going home with a need for oxygen but few other medical requirements.

The smallest baby born in the Pikes Peak region was at Memorial Hospital for Children about a year and a half ago. The baby was less than 11 ounces, slightly more than half the weight of Ricardo, or about a cup of milk.

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