BOSTON —

"When I saw him in the incubator, the first thing I thought was, 'Oh my god, how is he alive?'" said Martina Brito.

Her son, Joaquim, weighed just two and a half pounds when he was born last July.

"I did not imagine he was going to be that small, or that red," Martina said.

She and her husband, Luis, quickly learned that any baby born earlier than 28 weeks is considered extremely pre-term.

Their risk is high for serious complications, such as jaundice, brain bleeds, infections, and respiratory issues.

Joaquim arrived at 26 weeks and two days.

"He was very small," Luis said. "His belly would like, go up and down so much when he was breathing."

In an instant, the breathing stopped.

"We were just holding him, and out of nowhere, he just turned purple, which was really scary,

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