WELLS — For Donna O’Brien, Jan. 8 was a day for miracles.

Her grandson, Zachary Shannon, was born that day. He was three months premature, weighing just 1 pound, 7 ounces.

“He’s our little miracle,” she said. “It’s amazing how far he’s come.”

Another blessing, she said, has been the Web cam set up in baby Zachary’s room that allows O’Brien and her family to see him. O’Brien’s son, Ryan McCaffrey, and his girlfriend, Lindsey Shannon, didn’t plan to have their families view their first child via the Web, but two weeks into a road trip when they started to head home, Shannon started to experience cramping ”“ and then her water broke.

“I was shocked,” McCaffrey said of hearing the news from his girlfriend, more than three months before Zachary’s due date.

McCaffrey said he immediately got on the Internet to look up information to confirm labor was starting. Then the couple sought out the nearest hospital in Texarkana, Texas.

Shannon was transported to the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences hospital in Little Rock, Ark., and she gave birth four days later.

Although the family has been in Little Rock for nearly three months, they were not approached about the Web cam until a few weeks ago.

Zachary is the first preemie at the hospital to have a Web cam taping him ”“ nearly 24 hours a day ”“ with a live feed through a secure Web site that family members can view.

Dr. Curtis Lowery, chairman of the UAMS Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, started the Web cam effort in 2006, dubbed the ANGEL Eye program, as an offshoot of the Antenatal and Neonatal Guidelines, Education and Learning System that he created. Lowery said in a telephone interview this week he got the idea because babies born in the neonatal intensive care unit who need surgery are transported to the children’s hospital nearby, while their mothers must stay in the birthing unit at UAMS.

“In my opinion, it should be used 24 hours a day, seven days a week” and in any situation where family are separated from a patient, Lowery said. “The more we can do to make the patients more comfortable, the better off we are. It’s about making the experience positive and creating a caring environment.”

And positive it certainly has been for O’Brien and her family, as well as Shannon’s family.

“Just to be able to see him moving and looking healthy, it instantly puts me at peace,” O’Brien said from her home in Wells on Wednesday. She proudly displays footprints taken when Zachary was just 22 days old and photos showing his growth. O’Brien did travel with McCaffrey’s sister and brother to the hospital shortly after Zachary was born, but it has been nearly three months since then, she said.

O’Brien said seeing the little things, like her son changing her grandson’s diaper, have given her great joy. Although the camera is not always on Zachary ”“ sometimes nurses may point it away while they work ”“ O’Brien said the Web cam allows her to participate and watch Zachary grow.

McCaffrey said he’s very thankful for the service, and that he’s been able to share those moments with his mother and siblings. His family echoes that sentiment.

“It’s amazing to be able to watch him grow,” said 14-year-old Kyle O’Brien, McCaffrey’s younger brother. “I miss him and I miss Ryan and it’s given me a connection.”

Kyle O’Brien said the technology will be helpful to families in the future as it becomes more widespread.

It has truly been a family affair for the group, Donna O’Brien said, with many generations logging on to see the baby’s progress. She said Zachary’s great-grandparents and great-great-grandparents have watched him on the live feed.

Now that Zachary has reached a weight of about 4 pounds, 6 ounces and is nearing three months of age, the family is preparing to return to Maine. Zachary will not be able to return home just yet, but will be much closer to his extended family at the NICU at Maine Medical Center in Portland.

Although MMC does not have Web cams, hospital spokesman John Lamb said all the rooms there have wireless Internet access and many families have brought in laptop computers and used programs like Skype to video chat with their families. The hospital has also arranged for a live birth via the Web for a soldier stationed overseas.

UAMS spokeswoman Andrea Peel said the ANGEL Eye program is the first in the country and Zachary’s family is also the first to use the camera. The hospital has purchased 15 cameras courtesy of grant money from the Gertrude E. Skelly Charitable Foundation. The cameras also have audio, so parents can speak to their babies, the nurses or each other if one parent is in the hospital room and the other is home.

Lowery said the cameras give parents who may have to work a chance to communicate with their babies and bond ”“ and in the situation of McCaffrey and Shannon, the extra comfort of their families being able to see their child.

“You can just click on it and he’s here with us,” O’Brien said. “This has been really quite a story.”

— Staff Writer Robyn Burnham can be contacted at 282-1535, Ext. 329 or rburnham@journaltribune.com.