For many expectant parents, an ultrasound can be a nerve-wracking, but exciting time. The opportunity to get a glimpse at your baby and perhaps find out the sex can be magical and put __parents at ease of any worries they may hold regarding the health of their child.
Unfortunately for some parents, these routine ultrasounds indicate a problem with the fetus. This was the case of Margaret Boemer and her unborn daughter, Lynlee.
Margaret’s third pregnancy was anything but normal. Initially, Boemer was pregnant with twins, but before the second trimester she unfortunately lost one. Then at a routine ultrasound at 16 weeks, she was told that her baby had a sacrococcygeal teratoma — a tumor that develops before birth and is located at the base of the tailbone. This type of tumor is the most common type of tumor found in newborns at a prevalence of roughly 1 in every 35,000 to 40,000 live births (which is still quite rare). Oftentimes the tumor can be successfully operated on after the child is born, but Lynlee’s tumor was quite large and causing major health issues to her body.
This type of tumor grows by stealing blood from the fetus, causing the baby heart problems. This left Margaret with a very difficult decision. She was encouraged to terminate the pregnancy, but she wanted to give her baby a chance at life. Her doctors, Dr. Darrell Cass and Dr. Oluiyinka Olutoye, gave Margaret and her family hope by offering another option — fetal surgery.
The operation would be no small feat — the doctors proposed that they would make an incision in the uterus, take the fetus out, cut away the tumor, and then put the baby back. The surgery posed a great risk to both mother and baby, but Boemer was adamant — she wanted to move forward.
So at 23 weeks and 5 days, doctors performed the surgery. Lynlee would only be operated on for about 20 minutes — most of the 5-hour surgery was spent ensuring that the uterus stay water-tight during and after the procedure so that the baby would be allowed to re-enter the uterus and continue to grow and thrive until Boemer became full-term.
Cass and Olutoye were able to cut away most of the tumor, but Lynlee and Margaret were not out of the woods yet. Little Lynlee still had to survive the next 12 weeks in the womb, and would need more surgery post-birth, and Margaret would have to stay on strict bed rest for the rest of the pregnancy.
But against all odds, Lynlee was born a second time on June 6th via c-section, weighing in at 5 pounds 5 ounces. She needed more surgery at eight days old to remove the rest of the tumor, but recovered gracefully.
Lynlee is a true testament to the miracles of science, and the incredible doctors who perform selfless acts every day. Perhaps her story will quell anyone’s opinion that a c-section birth is not a “real” birth. She is a thriving infant who is undoubtedly loved and cherished by her family, and we wish her and her family the best.