When Rodh Ambroise learned she was pregnant with her second child, the 30-year-old felt a mix of happiness and fear \u2013 just a year earlier, she had suffered a devastating miscarriage that shook her to the core.<\/p>\n
Now, the news of a new pregnancy felt like a rainbow after the storm.<\/p>\n
\u201cAfter my loss in 2023, finding out I was pregnant again on New Year\u2019s Day felt like God telling me everything was going to be okay,\u201d Ambroise said.<\/p>\n
For the first few months, everything seemed normal. A nurse educator and mother of a healthy four-year-old daughter, she knew she was considered high-risk due to her history of gestational diabetes. Ambroise scheduled her early prenatal appointments as usual.<\/p>\n
But when her doctor noticed that her baby\u2019s bladder appeared swollen on an ultrasound, she knew something wasn\u2019t right.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe doctor told me it could be a chromosomal problem, or sometimes, it could correct itself,\u201d Ambroise said. \u201cShe gave me two options \u2013 wait four weeks and recheck, or terminate the pregnancy. Because of my faith, abortion wasn\u2019t an option.\u201d<\/p>\n
Four weeks later, the ultrasound showed that the bladder had grown even larger and the baby\u2019s heart could barely be detected. That\u2019s when her doctor knew something more needed to be done, and referred her to Rodrigo Ruano, MD, PhD, director of the UHealth Jackson Fetal Care Center and division chief of UHealth Jackson Maternal-Fetal Medicine.<\/p>\n
Dr. Ruano quickly reviewed the ultrasound and agreed to see Ambroise immediately. The diagnosis was lower urinary tract obstruction (LUTO), a rare and severe condition that occurs in approximately one in 5,000 pregnancies. The obstruction prevents urine from leaving the baby\u2019s bladder, leading to kidney damage and underdeveloped lungs, a condition known as pulmonary hypoplasia.<\/p>\n
Without fetal intervention, the mortality rate can be above 90 percent.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe baby had a complete obstruction, which meant there was almost no amniotic fluid,\u201d Dr. Ruano said. \u201cWithout fluid, the lungs can\u2019t develop, and the baby usually doesn\u2019t survive. Through fetal intervention, we can bypass that blockage and give the baby a chance at life.\u201d<\/p>\n
At just 19 weeks, Ambroise underwent a fetal vesicoamniotic shunt procedure at Jackson Memorial Hospital, performed by Dr. Ruano and his multidisciplinary team. Using ultrasound guidance, they inserted a tiny tube from the baby\u2019s bladder into the amniotic cavity to allow urine to flow out and restore the fluid needed for lung development.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe surgery was a success,\u201d Dr. Ruano said. \u201cWe were able to relieve the pressure on the kidneys and allow the lungs to continue developing. This is a perfect example of how fetal therapy can change the course of a disease.\u201d<\/p>\n
With the help of the team at Holtz Children\u2019s Hospital, Ambroise carried her pregnancy to 37 weeks and gave birth to a baby boy, Raphael Moises.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was emotional,\u201d she said. \u201cBut I knew everything would be okay, because God promised me that he would never leave me, and also, because I was in the hands of the teams at Jackson and Holtz Children\u2019s.\u201d<\/p>\n
But after birth, baby Raphael faced another uphill battle. His ureters weren\u2019t connected to his bladder, preventing urine from leaving his body and damaging his kidneys. At just three days old, he underwent surgery to create a new path that allows his body to drain urine safely.<\/p>\n
He spent 257 days in the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) at Holtz Children\u2019s, battling infections, septic shock, and underdeveloped lungs.<\/p>\n
\u201cIn the NICU, we were surrounded by angels,\u201d Ambroise said. \u201cMy son was so sick \u2013 he almost died three times \u2013 but every doctor, nurse practitioner, nurse, respiratory therapist, and child life therapist fought for him. They cheered him on like he was their own child.\u201d<\/p>\n
Among those cheering was Brittany Anderson, one of Raphael\u2019s primary NICU nurses.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen I first met him, he was very sick,\u201d Anderson said. \u201cBut over time, we watched him grow stronger. He learned to breathe on his own, sit up in a high chair, and even grab toys. Every little milestone was a big victory.\u201d<\/p>\n
Through the collaboration of the NICU team, pediatric urology, and fetal therapy, Raphael slowly improved.<\/p>\n
\u201cThese babies are born with rare and complex conditions, but at Holtz Children\u2019s, they get comprehensive care from day one,\u201d Anderson said. \u201cEvery specialist plays a role in giving them a future.\u201d<\/p>\n
Once Raphael was discharged, he continued his recovery at home with his family. He continues to receive care from Jackson\u2019s pediatric specialists.<\/p>\n
Despite lingering challenges, his progress has defied all expectations.<\/p>\n
\u201cI walk into his room every morning and thank God,\u201d Ambroise said. \u201cThey told me he wouldn\u2019t survive, but everyone at Jackson never stopped believing. They gave me hope when I had none. Now he\u2019s playing, laughing, and saying \u2018hallelujah\u2019 with his grandma. He truly lives up to his name \u2014 Raphael \u2014 which means God heals.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"When Rodh Ambroise learned she was pregnant with her second child, the 30-year-old felt a mix of happiness…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":277321,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[118379,118368,118363,118377,118371,118378,118367,118364,118382,41933,118365,118366,118369,123,125,124,118376,118384,118381,63482,118383,118372,118375,118374,118373,118370,118380,32876],"class_list":["post-277320","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-miami","tag-baby-born-after-fetal-surgery","tag-fetal-intervention-procedure","tag-fetal-surgery","tag-fetal-therapy-breakthrough","tag-fetal-vesicoamniotic-shunt","tag-gestational-diabetes-pregnancy-risks","tag-high-risk-pregnancy","tag-holtz-childrens-hospital","tag-jackson-health-system-pediatric-care","tag-jackson-memorial-hospital","tag-lower-urinary-tract-obstruction","tag-luto-diagnosis","tag-maternal-fetal-medicine","tag-miami","tag-miami-headlines","tag-miami-news","tag-miami-pediatric-specialists","tag-miracle-baby-survival-after-fetal-intervention","tag-multidisciplinary-fetal-care-team","tag-neonatal-intensive-care-unit","tag-neonatal-septic-shock-recovery","tag-nicu-recovery-story","tag-prenatal-surgery-success","tag-pulmonary-hypoplasia","tag-rare-fetal-condition-treatment","tag-rodrigo-ruano","tag-severe-urinary-tract-obstruction-fetus","tag-uhealth-jackson-fetal-care-center"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/277320","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=277320"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/277320\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/277321"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=277320"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=277320"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=277320"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}