A special reunion unfolded Thursday at Jefferson Abington Hospital, all to celebrate a baby girl named Isabella.<\/p>\n
“She looks amazing. She is so big, she’s so much bigger than when I last saw her,” Cheltenham paramedic Jessica Barto said.<\/p>\n
Barto responded to a 911 call and delivered baby Isabella, who was born prematurely at 23 weeks, weighing just 1 pound.\u00a0<\/p>\n
“I did some mouth-to-mouth, and we just went and did compressions, CPR, ventilations, got her to the hospital as quick as we could,” Barto said.<\/p>\n
Parents Crystal Hilliard and Anthony Robinson said they were shocked when the baby was born suddenly on July 19 at home in Elkins Park.\u00a0<\/p>\n
“I didn’t get a chance to really see her because I was in so much pain,” Hilliard said.<\/p>\n
Dr. Erin Cipko, a neonatologist at Abington, said, “My thought was that she wasn’t going to make it.”\u00a0<\/p>\n
When the baby arrived at the hospital, Cipko and the team went to work, getting the baby on a ventilator.\u00a0<\/p>\n
“She was extremely small, pale, not really breathing, not good color, and we just went into immediate action,” Cipko said.<\/p>\n
Against the odds, they saved the baby’s life. She now weighs 6 pounds.\u00a0<\/p>\n
“It feels like relief. Every time I get a chance to see her, every time I get a chance to hold her, I’m grateful,” Hilliard said.<\/p>\n
Isabella’s survival has created new friendships. Her parents have invited Barto to their upcoming wedding, which will be at the hospital with the baby.\u00a0<\/p>\n
“We’re all just absolutely thrilled,” Barto said.<\/p>\n
The wedding on Nov. 7 will be two days before Isabella’s original due date. Isabella is a fighter, surrounded by loving heroes who’ve delivered her a bright future.<\/p>\n
The baby is being treated now for pulmonary hypertension; once that’s resolved, doctors say she should be able to go home.\u00a0<\/p>\n
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