Alysha MacDougall, 33 years old, gave birth on January 26 in an ambulance in the middle of a severe snow storm in Massachusetts, United States. The young woman I didn’t know I was pregnanthad lost consciousness after feeling unbearable abdominal pain and hemorrhaging.
Five months after that shocking moment, he gave a television interview on Good Morning America and revealed that together with her fiancé, Carl Pina43, had been looking to be parents for a long time.
She had taken several pregnancy tests and they all came back negative. «I was being treated for polyendocrine metabolic ovarian syndrome to do all the fertility checks,» Alysha said.
Her doctor had explained to her that the syndrome, which was previously known as «polycystic ovary syndrome» or PCOS, can cause unpredictable periods and increase the chance of having a cryptic pregnancythat is, when the pregnant woman is unaware that she is pregnant.
«I had no suspicions, my cycle was always irregular and my chances of being a mother were almost zero,» she said. One day before the birth he had been in a traffic accident. «I didn’t go to the hospital because I felt fine,» he revealed.
«But the next morning I woke up with very, very bad stomach pains, before I started bleeding and lost consciousness for several minutes,» he explained.
Birth in the ambulance and the fight to save the 23-week-old baby
When he regained consciousness he called the emergency services. She was taken by ambulance to the hospital and gave birth during the journey. His partner was working at the time and received a call from a nurse.
«They told me: ‘We just wanted to let you know that Alysha is doing great and the baby is doing well. It’s a boy’and I sat there and thought, ‘Did I hear that right?'» Pina recalled.
Julian, nicknamed «the miracle baby» at Tufts Medical Center in Boston, he was born between 22 and 23 weeks of gestation weighing only 450 grams.
Dr. Jaclyn Boulais, medical director of the NICU at Tufts Medical Center, the hospital where the newborn was transferred, said he was «in critical condition» when he was admitted to neonatal intensive care.
«They intubated him with a specialized respirator that we use for premature babies. He had very thin skin, he was extremely small and he needed help, basically for all his systems,» Boulais said in conversation with ABC News.
The new dad arrived at the place in a state of shock. «After processing it for a second, the first thing we thought was, ‘This is the time to stay positive, we will do everything we can to save him,'» Pina said.
For premature babies born so soon – a full-term pregnancy is considered from weeks 37 to 42 – the fight is hour by hour. «The chances of survival are very low for such premature babies, approximately 15%,» explained Dr. Boulais.
Julian’s discharge after five months in neonatal intensive care
«He gradually overcame many problems and received various supportive treatments for your lungs, eyes, adrenal insufficiency, and blood pressure«, Boulais celebrated.
On June 29, Julian – a name that means «the guardian, the one with strong roots, the one who protects» -, was dischargedafter 154 days in the NICU (Neonatal Intensive Care Unit) of the hospital, with a weight that is 10 times more than his birth weight: he reached almost 4.5 kilograms.
«It’s really extraordinary that he left the hospital without a brain hemorrhage and that he is alert, interacting, bottle-feeding and doing wonderfully,» Boulais said.
«Not all babies born so prematurely survive or can go home without major complications, but we want people to have hope and be given the best possible opportunity,» she said.
«His parents are also very special, for their ability to cope with this incredible stress, completely unknown, and immediately adopting a fatherly mentality with optimism and working closely with the medical team to make sure he had every opportunity to recover well,» he said.
Julian still needs oxygen support, but in a while he won’t need it anymore. «He’s a healthy baby, that’s why we say he’s a miracle in the hospital,» Dr. Boulais explained.
The new mother held him in her arms throughout the interview, excited to be able to all be together. «Having him home is wonderful, we are really enjoying it,» MacDougall told ABC News.
«I never thought I would have the opportunity to be a mother, so I fulfilled my dream. Our family is complete. «I think Julian is proof of resilience and that we can overcome anything,» she said moved.
