Lynlee at 23 weeks underwent a risky and complex surgery.
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You can call her a miracle baby – Lynlee was born twice following a complex operation needed in order to save her life and remove an in-utero tumour on her spine.
The tumour was discovered after 16 weeks of pregnancy and if left unchecked, threatened to stop Lynlee’s heart while still a foetus.
The tumour was siphoning blood away from her heart.
Her mother Margaret Boemer had a decision to make.
“It was a choice of allowing the tumour to take over her body or giving her a chance at life,” Boemer said. “And that’s what we chose, to give her a chance.”
Doctors had previously advised Boemer to terminate her pregnancy. The mother was expecting twins but had already lost one of her babies before the second trimester.
Doctors at the Texas Children’s Fetal Center then suggested a complex extra-utero surgery.
At 23 weeks Lynlee was extracted from her mother’s womb and doctors removed 90 percent of the tumour. It had grown so large, it was almost the same size as Lynlee herself who weighed half a kilo.
Doctors gave Lynlee a 50-50 chance of surviving.
The operation complete, doctors placed Lynlee back in her mother’s womb and sewed Boemer’s uterus shut.
Boemer was hospitalised and stayed in bed for the rest of her pregnancy. She was born via Caesarean almost at full term on June 6
Her ordeal was not finished, however, as doctors had to operate a second time one week later to remove the last pieces of her tumour.
Lynlee is now five months old and going strong.