I've heard plenty of crazy birthing stories, but 3-month-old Elayna Nigrelli takes the term "miracle baby" to a whole new level. Why? The little girl was born while her 32-year-old mother, Erica, was technically dead!
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It all started only 3 weeks before her due date in February when a pregnant Nigrelli started feeling faint while walking into a co-worker's classroom at the high school where she teaches. She tried to steady herself, but ended up passing out and breaking into a seizure. Teachers immediately began performing CPR and students ran to get her husband, Nathan, who was also a teacher the school.
By the time paramedics arrived and rushed her to the hospital, Nigrelli's heart had stopped. Doctors were forced to delivery the baby by emergency C-section, even though Nigrelli technically had no pulse at the time. That's when something truly remarkable happened.
After the baby was delivered, Nigrelli's heart suddenly started beating again. She remained in a medically induced coma for the next few days and doctors diagnosed her with a heart defect she hadn't known she had. When she was woken up, medics told her her baby was safe and in the hospital. Little Elayna stayed in intensive care for two weeks and mom and daughter weren't united until three weeks after she was born. But in the end, they were safe.
Though Elayna remains on oxygen for now and will undergo therapy soon, her parents says her recovery is on track and she will soon be functioning like any other child.
Wow, talk about miraculous! That is seriously the birth stories to end all birth stories. Though I can't even imagine how terrifying that experience must have been for the entire family, I'm just glad that they're all healthy and happy now. And I bet having gone through such a tough and traumatic ordeal together will only now make them cherish every single moment they have with each other more.
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