Rep. Jaime Herrera Beutler, R-Wash., and her husband Daniel had very happy news to report Monday, introducing their “miracle” daughter, Abigail Rose Beutler, to the world. The baby had survived a rare and deadly condition that impacted her kidneys and lungs.
Earlier in the Republican lawmaker’s pregnancy, baby Buetler was not expected to make it. She had been diagnosed with Potter’s Sequence, which prevents a fetus’ lungs from developing inside the womb, due to a complete absence of amniotic fluid. The Potter’s Sequence was caused by bilateral renal agenesis, a failure to develop kidneys.
To address the Potter’s Sequence, doctors from John Hopkins tried “a simple, but unproven treatment” called amnioinfusion. “Every week for five weeks, doctors injected saline into the womb to give Abigail’s lungs a chance to develop,” explained Daniel Beutler in a Facebook post.
When Abigail was born prematurely in Portland on July 15–weighing less than three pounds–she was, luckily, breathing by herself. She was moved to California when she was 16-hours-old to receive kidney surgery. “She is active, stable and breathing on her own,” Daniel Beutler reported. “As far as every doctor we’ve spoken with knows, Abigail is the first baby with bilateral renal agenesis to breathe sustainably on her own.”
The couple thanked all the doctors and nurses that helped them along. The Beutlers also released a picture posing with their 14-day-old girl. “Although Abigail will need ongoing care after she comes home, we have every expectation that she will lead a full and healthy life,” Daniel Beutler said.
