Baby girl defies the odds, bringing family joy, hope

HOUSTON — Mom’s Day appeared unattainable to have fun for Anne Briggs a couple of months in the past. She was in the midst of her first being pregnant and saved being instructed her unborn youngster would not make it.

Now, after flying the world over to get assist, the 38-year-old mom’s dream is coming true together with her child lady.

At solely 7-weeks-old, Abigail Hope Cheng’s little life is nothing wanting a miracle.

To start, her conception appeared unbelievable.

“I knew it was going to be a wrestle to have youngsters,” Briggs mentioned. 

It had been 12 years since she had a pure interval.

“I used to be taking contraception capsules so I used to be having it induced, but when I finished … I would not have a cycle,” she mentioned.

However she and her accomplice, Mark Cheng, needed a child. So that they tried IVF in March 2021. It did not work, however a couple of months later, she wakened with morning illness. She took a being pregnant take a look at however did not imagine the outcomes.

“Took the second and it got here out optimistic. And I used to be, like, ‘Mark, we’ve got a child,” she mentioned.

The couple was astounded and elated till the thrill got here crashing down on the 20-week ultrasound.

“We came upon she was identified with pleural effusion, which is fluid inside her chest cavity,” Cheng mentioned.

With fluid in her chest, Abagail’s lungs and coronary heart would not absolutely develop and it will seemingly be deadly for the newborn. They had been dwelling in Taiwan on the time and the couple went by two failed procedures and had three medical doctors telling them to finish the being pregnant.

“(The medical doctors) simply instructed us, yeah, the prognosis is fairly unhealthy, you must take into account abortion,” Cheng mentioned.

That is after they met Dr. Ramesh Papanna with UT Well being in Houston.

“These are the tales that truly make us maintain going,” Papanna mentioned.

The couple was working out of time and choices till Papanna instructed them to fly to Houston for a process. There was a small drawback: Papanna wanted a specialised shunt, which he did not have. Fortunately, a colleague in Canada did have it and shipped it in a single day. It confirmed up on the identical day the couple did — Christmas.

“Crucial factor for us was the newborn was alive. I wasn’t certain that will be the case,” Papanna mentioned.

The subsequent morning, the process to avoid wasting Abagail’s life took solely three minutes. Every part after that — the remainder of the being pregnant, supply and the newborn — had been all wholesome as could be.

Two months earlier than Mom’s Day, Abagail Hope introduced her household greater than they ever imagined.

“It really is past my wildest goals,” Briggs mentioned. “She actually taught us to hope for the unattainable.”

The household of three has been in Texas since they obtained right here on Christmas. They’re hoping to return to Taiwan with their latest addition in a couple of months.