Baby Sarai, which means princess, looks quite tiny, but this bundle of joy has more than doubled her weight since she was born nearly four months premature at 1 pound, 5 ounces.
Her mother, Kalia Calloway, is impressed with her baby's progress.
"They've recreated the womb in some amazing scientific way," she said.
New technology at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center is helping doctors and nurses pinpoint exactly what their smallest patients need.
A mini-machine called a peapod measures how much fat and muscle a baby has. At this stage, what preemies are fed can impact their nervous systems for the rest of their lives.
"We can change what the pattern is for feeding, the composition of feeding, and then see how the baby is utilizing calories," said Dr. Charles F. Simmons with Maxine Dunitz Children's Health Center.
One machine doctors use for the preemies analyzes the fat, protein and carbohydrate composition of breast milk because all breast milk is different. Just like a premature baby is not fully developed, the same is true for that mother's milk.
"It was nothing nearly as close to what it was supposed to be just for her to maintain any type of body weight," Calloway said.
Doctors added the missing nutrients to baby Sarai's good and her weight continued to climb. What preemies also need most is plenty of rest, but that can come at a cost.
"Almost all preemies who are born very premature will get flattening of the sides of their heads," said RN Ellen Mack with Cedars-Sinai.
They also get flattening in the backs of their heads so at one neonatal intensive care unit babies are placed on special mattresses that do not put pressure on a baby's delicate skull.
If baby Sarai continues to grow at a steady rate, doctors say she'll be heading home in six weeks.
The hammock style mattress is custom designed to fit various hospital incubators, but the company also makes a version for the home.