Born to Fight : Little Victor Dominguez has struggled hard to stay alive since entering the world five months ago. ‘He’s going to make it,’ his mother says. ‘He has that kind of spirit. I see it . . . ‘

Five months ago, Victor Dominguez, at 8 pounds, 9 ounces, entered this world fighting for his life.

He hasn’t stopped.

The infant, named after his grandfather, was born with fluid in his lungs. Soon, he developed bronchial pulmonary disease. For the first 29 days, his muscles were temporarily paralyzed with medication so he would not exert himself and would use a ventilator to breathe.

For 2 1/2 months, he remained in intensive care at South Bay Hospital--his fragile body fed oxygen through a tube. Finally, on Nov. 25, his parents, Joe, a warehouseman, and Jeri, a homemaker, took him home to Carson, thinking he was out of danger. But he’s back in intensive care at Long Beach Miller Children’s Hospital. “He caught a virus in his lungs and had to be put back on the ventilator,” says his mother.

“I’m praying to God to make him well enough to come home. I know that will happen.”

When it does, the Dominguezes will be prepared to offer 24-hour care for about a year, until Victor’s able to breathe on his own.

“My baby is a fighter,” his mother says. “He’s been fighting for his life since the second he was born. And he’s going to make it. He has that kind of spirit. I see it in his eyes.”