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Appearance
The parents of full-term newborn infants are often amazed at how
small and fragile they are, so you can imagine the shock parents of
premature babies have to face, especially when their baby's only
weigh in at somewhere around a mere 1,700 grams. The baby's weight
at birth all depends on how prematurely he was born, with some being
a little larger and more developed, and others being so tiny that
they are able to almost fit into the palm of an adult hand. The
premature baby's skin may seem almost translucent, and will probably
be covered in a fine layer of hair, commonly known as lanugo.
Because he has not had sufficient time to be able to fully develop,
his ears may take on a floppy appearance, due to the lack of
cartilage being formed, and his sexual characteristics will not
usually be fully developed. Muscular development will also be
incomplete, so your baby's reflex abilities will also be absent,
causing difficulty in feeding, through not being able to suck
properly. These conditions are only temporary, and should be viewed
optimistically, as difficult as it may be at the time. Once your
baby reaches his so called 'due-date', he will resemble that of a
newborn, and with plenty of love and guidance will continue to
flourish.
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