Pic Of Preemie Baby With Huge Smile Born In Minnesota Goes Viral

MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) -- A picture that a Minnesota mother posted to social media of her preemie baby's big smile has people from all over smiling, too.

On Oct. 16, Lauren Vinje posted the following picture to the Love What Matters Facebook page.

She says her first daughter -- who was 5 days old, 3-pound-14-ounces at the time -- "was happy to be alive."

She added that the picture "was one I looked at often to get me through the ups and downs of our NICU days. Life is so precious."

The post has inspired many parents to share their own pictures of their preemie babies to the post.

So far, the picture has been shared more than 45,000 times.