It is quite astonishing but babies can be born twice. This is the case with Lynlee Hope Boemer from Lewisville, Texas, who was born twice in 2016, three months apart.
This dramatic story began when mom-to-be Margaret Boemer went for a routine sonogram at 16 weeks.
Once the scan was over, the unusually silent sonogram tech reported that the baby had a rapidly developing sacrococcygeal teratoma, a rare type of tumor that occurs in only one in 30,000 – 70,000 live births.
At 23rd week the tumor had grown so large that it was already life-threatening for the baby. As the tumor grows, it needs more and more blood supply, and the unborn baby's heart cannot cope with such load, so the fetus dies.
Most doctors agreed on the necessity to terminate the pregnancy, and the baby was clearly destined to die. But Doctor Darrell Cass of Texas Children's Fetal Centre put forward an option to operate on the fetus. Despite all risks it gave the baby a chance of survival.
Surgeons opened the mother's uterus and operated on the fetus, removing most of the tumor, then returned the fetus to the womb and sewed it up. The baby's heart virtually stopped during the procedure, but a heart specialist kept her alive. The most difficult operation lasted over five hours.
After the surgery, Boemer remained on bedrest under the close supervision of doctors until the end of her pregnancy. This is how she was able to carry Lynlee for another 12 weeks. The baby was born via C-section at almost full term, weighing 5Ib and 5oz.
After the birth, the baby girl had another challenge. When Lynlee was eight days old, she had another surgery, during which the rest of the tumor was removed. A few weeks later, Lynlee made a full recovery and was discharged home.
Source: dzen
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