BUFFALO, N.Y. (AP) – An 11-ounce baby girl whose feisty demeanor gave her parents and doctors hope for her survival has died.

Dakota Guido, who was born May 9, gained four ounces and a quarter of an inch in an incubator at Women & Children’s Hospital before dying on Saturday.

Hospital officials listed the cause of death as “complications from prematurity,” but offered no specifics Wednesday.

“It’s a difficult time for the family. It’s also a difficult time for the caregivers here at the hospital” who had developed a relationship with the baby, said John Moscato, a Women & Children’s spokesman.

Doctors delivered the daughter of Ronald and Sahara Guido by Caesarean section early, worried that the mother’s diabetes and high blood pressure had put the baby in danger.

When the family went public with Dakota’s story last week, the infant had already overcome both a leak in one of her heart valves and an infection. Sahara Guido had marveled at her daughter’s size and told reporters “she already has an attitude.”

“All we can do is keep a positive attitude,” she said then.

The family requested privacy following the baby’s death, Moscato said, and made no public statements.

Services were held Tuesday.

Strangers who had seen media accounts about the baby posted messages of condolences on The Buffalo News Web site.

“You don’t know us,” read one, echoing a common theme, “but we wanted you to know that you’re in our thoughts and prayers… we were overwhelmed by what you and she went through.”

Babies usually weigh about 2 pounds after 26 weeks of pregnancy.

The smallest baby ever to survive is believed to be an 8.6-ounce girl born in September near Chicago. Rumaisa Rahman was released from the hospital in February. Her twin sister, who weighed 1 pound, 4 ounces, also survived.

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