Palo Alto, Calif. - Eloysa and Roy Vasquez gazed down at their healthy newborn son in the neonatal ward at Lucile Packard Children's Hospital, their beaming faces a reminder that every birth is a miracle.
Some births, like Timothy Abraham's, are just a little more miraculous than others.
The boy, who has a race-car- shaped bed waiting at home in Tulare, became one of a half- dozen babies delivered in Packard's 15 years to a mother with osteogenesis imperfecta type 3.
The genetic disease makes Eloysa Vasquez's bones so brittle that a muscle move could break them. She weighs 37 pounds and has depended on a wheelchair since she was 10.
Fewer than 50,000 people in the United States have the disease.
After two first-term miscarriages, the Vasquezes knew the odds were long for them to have a child. One out of every 25,000 deliveries involves a mother with OI, and far fewer involve those with the type 3 version.
"I knew if I tried one more time, it would be worth it," said Eloysa, 38.
Vasquez's small stomach meant doctors had to carefully balance nutrition to
keep her and the developing baby fed. Her full-size uterus expanded properly to hold her growing child, but after eight months, her lungs became so compressed she could hardly breathe.
Pregnancy hormones softened her pelvis, necessary for a traditional delivery, but the wrong thing for someone with fragile bones.
Mothers with OI must deliver by cesarean section, which means blood loss. The typical amount of blood loss would have been the equivalent of half Vasquez's circulating blood supply. Doctors prepared for that, too.
At 32 weeks, Vasquez's doctor decided Timothy could hold his own. And on Jan. 24, Vasquez was able to cradle all 3 pounds and 11 ounces of her long-awaited son. He filled her whole lap.
Some births, like Timothy Abraham's, are just a little more miraculous than others.
The boy, who has a race-car- shaped bed waiting at home in Tulare, became one of a half- dozen babies delivered in Packard's 15 years to a mother with osteogenesis imperfecta type 3.
The genetic disease makes Eloysa Vasquez's bones so brittle that a muscle move could break them. She weighs 37 pounds and has depended on a wheelchair since she was 10.
Fewer than 50,000 people in the United States have the disease.
After two first-term miscarriages, the Vasquezes knew the odds were long for them to have a child. One out of every 25,000 deliveries involves a mother with OI, and far fewer involve those with the type 3 version.
"I knew if I tried one more time, it would be worth it," said Eloysa, 38.
Vasquez's small stomach meant doctors had to carefully balance nutrition to
keep her and the developing baby fed. Her full-size uterus expanded properly to hold her growing child, but after eight months, her lungs became so compressed she could hardly breathe.
Pregnancy hormones softened her pelvis, necessary for a traditional delivery, but the wrong thing for someone with fragile bones.
Mothers with OI must deliver by cesarean section, which means blood loss. The typical amount of blood loss would have been the equivalent of half Vasquez's circulating blood supply. Doctors prepared for that, too.
At 32 weeks, Vasquez's doctor decided Timothy could hold his own. And on Jan. 24, Vasquez was able to cradle all 3 pounds and 11 ounces of her long-awaited son. He filled her whole lap.
