The absolute worst news a pregnant woman can ever hear is that something is wrong with her baby, so understandably, mom Shelagh McAlpine was beyond devastated when she started bleeding heavily after suffering a placental abruption during her 28th week of pregnancy, and medics sadly told her that her baby had died in utero.
She was rushed to the hospital knowing all too well that she had lost her precious baby-to-be, which had to have been nothing short of horrific. And then when she arrived at the hospital, doctors still tried for seven minutes to locate the baby's heartbeat in the off chance that there was hope for a miracle. SEVEN minutes. (That's a really long time to search for a heartbeat.)
Shelagh describes that time as "the longest seven minutes of her life," but thankfully, the persistence of the doctors paid off. It turns out her baby girl was still alive; however, they found that she had holes in her heart and lung and also had a potentially fatal blood clot in her arm.
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Even though she was only 28 weeks along, doctors went ahead and performed an emergency C-section to try and save Shelagh's baby's life, and incredibly -- they were successful. Mia Rose was born weighing 2 pounds, 10 ounces, and though she wound up facing 10 blood transfusions, surgery, and a very tough road ahead of her, she proved to be a brave little fighter. And on August 1, she was able to go home from the hospital with her parents and older brother.
If any newborn fits the definition of a miracle baby, it's Mia Rose for sure. I can't even begin to imagine what it must have been like for Shelagh to think she'd lost her child -- only to find out seven minutes later that there was a chance she might survive. She's definitely proof that moms have more inner strength than we realize, and the incredible love we have for our kids is sometimes all we need to pull us through an emotionally unbearable situation.
Do you think you'd handle something like this as well as Shelagh did?
Image via Crystal_1979/Flickr
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Comments 70
been there done that and almost died both of us. At 24 weeks the chance of your baby even surviving hours or mins is a miracle. Our daughter had thousands of blood transfusing while in her NICU stay of 8 months i had two after the c section. This woman is brave but not the only woman to have walked this path.
So happy to hear they are both ok!! I went into the hospital at 16 weeks because I was bleeding badly. When we arrived we sat in the waiting room for 20 minutes until a nurse came out and said there was no point in the dr seeing me. She said "Your just having a miscarriage, go home lie down and get over it with tylinol. It would just be a waste of your time and our time to check you in." I was so shocked that I ran from the hospital crying after trying to explain I knew it wasnt a miscarriage because I had already had three. My husband convinced me to go to another hospital where they immediantly checked me in and checked the baby. He told me I had not lost it and I had a weak cervix and placenta. They stopped the bleeding and I am now 36 weeks along with our healthy baby boy. She is an extremely strong woman to be able to take that emotional blow, I give her a big cudos!!!
Now I have my rainbow baby!
WOW that is SO amazing!!!!
Aww I love the feel good stories =) this one made me cry but happy for that little girl. I've know a few people who have lost babies and it's never easy but the farther along you are the more traumatic and I'm glad that her daughter was a miracle baby <3