This baby was born twice - to survive

There are many reasons why some people celebrate a second birthday: joy over a barely surviving accident or illness, a particularly striking new start in love or work or simply because they enjoy having a cake more a year. But little Macy Hope actually has two birthdays: she was twice delivered from the womb.

Ultrasound shock: A tumor, big as a balloon

Macie's parents, Chad and Keri McCartney, suspected nothing wrong when they went to a routine ultrasound scan. On the contrary, they were happy to finally find out about the sex of their unborn baby and had their other four children at the same time. Instead, she was in for the shock of her life.

To see clearly in the ultrasound: The huge tumor that threatened Macie's life

"The ultrasound technician suddenly looked very worried," Chad recalled today.com. "She shooed our kids out of the consulting room and told us there was a big foreign object on our baby."

The ultrasound scan revealed a tumor almost as tall as the unborn child. "That's unbelievably rare, and this may happen in one out of every 40,000 births," Dr. Darrell Cass, who led the operation of Macie, the phenomenon. "Most of the time, these tumors are small and have no effect on the fetus, but with Macie, they grew incredibly fast - and practically took away the blood their bodies needed to grow - they would have died if no one intervened."

A chance of survival of less than ten percent

Luckily, there was a hospital in the area that specialized in this particularity. Nevertheless, according to experts, her baby's chances of survival were low and less than ten percent. Keri and Chad immediately gave their daughter a name, not knowing if she would even know it. "We called her 'Macie Hope' because we felt that hope was the only thing that stayed with us," Chad said about the terrible moments of uncertainty.

An artificial birth only to be operated on

Dr. Cass undertook the dangerous procedure that has probably never happened before in this form: Together with two other doctors, he pulled Keri's uterus out of his stomach complete with the unborn child. According to their own statements, they gently pulled about 80 percent of the baby body outside, leaving only the head and upper body protected in the womb. They quickly removed the tumor on the abdomen of the child - and then tried to preserve as much as possible the original state of the uterus. "Then we could only hope that the pregnancy would come through," Dr. Cass about his little medical miracle.

Video: Macie Hope - a child sees the light of the world twice

The second birth and happy exit

The little Macie fought for her life in the womb - with success. Ten weeks later, when the child and mother were able to recover from the severe procedure, Macie Hope saw the light of day for the second time in her life. All traces of the tumor were gone, except for a scar on Macie's back, she was a very healthy kid.

For Chad and Keri the nightmare was finally over. And Macie Hope started a life that was supposed to be almost normal - just with a birthday cake more a year.

How This Baby Was Actually Born Twice (May 2024).