Rep. Jaime Herrera Beutler (R- Wash.) and her husband Dan recently celebrated the first birthday of their “miracle baby,” Abigail Rose.
The couple learned early into the congresswoman’s pregnancy that their baby had Potter’s Syndrome. The condition causes a lack of amniotic fluid which prevents the baby’s growth and development, especially of the kidneys.
Jaime and Dan were told with “100 percent certainty” that the pregnancy would result in a miscarriage or Abigail would die of suffocation after birth. Doctors said that “it is 100 percent fatal, no baby has ever survived this, she will die,” Rep. Beutler explained on “Fox and Friends” Monday.
Instead of giving up hope, the Beutlers found a doctor willing to take a chance on Abigail and try an experimental treatment. Injections of fluid into the womb facilitated her growth and little by little, the ultrasounds proved that Abigail was getting healthier. She was born on July 15, 2013 and became the first baby ever to survive Potter’s Syndrome.
“Her feet were originally clubbed, we watched them un-club. Her lungs grew and you can see she is happy and healthy,” Beutler said on the show, as Abigail sat next to her, interrupting with attempts to say her first words.
Abigail was born without kidneys, but nightly dialysis at home and regular treatments are helping her grow big enough to have a transplant. When that times comes, her father, Dan, will donate one of his kidneys to his daughter.
