Dogs are a man's best friend, but as Long Island woman and new mom Janelle Giannetta recently discovered, they can also be life savers.
Giannetta was 26 weeks into her pregnancy when she began feeling ill last Friday. She went upstairs to get some rest but shortly after lying down, the mom-to-be suddenly broke out into seizures. Thankfully, she wasn't completely alone at the time. Her year-old goldendoodle, Louie, was in the room and he quickly sensed something was wrong.
The usually quiet dog started barking like crazy and when Giannetta's husband, Richard, heard him, he went to investigate what was going on. He found his wife convulsing and foaming at the mouth and quickly called 911. Giannetta was taken to the hospital, where she was diagnosed with eclampsia, a serious condition that can be caused by high blood pressure. The only treatment? To have an emergency C-section and deliver the baby early.
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On Saturday morning, Giannetta's daughter was born prematurely. Though she weighs only 1 pound, 7 ounces and has to stay in the hospital for a few months, she is safe, as is her mother. And according to the doctors, they owe it all to their dog!
"In my opinion, the dog is the real hero," Giannetta's doctor, Dr. Peter Hong, said. "If not for the dog's barking, she could have had one seizure after another, after another … and she would have gotten care a lot later, and that would have made my job much harder."
Wow, can you believe that?! Though that must have been such a terrifying ordeal for the family, I'm just glad that both mom and baby made it through safely–and all because their pooch was smart enough to alert someone to what was happening! I don't even want to think about what would've happened if he hadn't been there or hadn't started barking in time.I just hope that the baby remains safe and that Giannetta recovers quicky–and of course, that Louie is rewarded for his heroic actions!
Image via CBS
