An Unexpected Miracle

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In 2017, Rebekah Jowers was diagnosed with Polycystic Ovary Syndrome (PCOS), a hormone imbalance disorder that causes small cysts to form on the ovaries and was told it would be difficult to ever become pregnant. Nevertheless, Rebekah and her fiancé, Logan, were eager to start a family and they clung to hope, even though they were hanging by a thread. Rebekah’s biggest dream was becoming a mom. Little did she know, things happen when least expected. Despite the odds, Rebecca would soon give birth to little Paisleigh, who would have to overcome her very own health challenges.

While Rebekah had frequent bouts of morning sickness during the first trimester, her baby was growing and developing right on schedule. Her obstetrician requested weekly ultrasound visits and her baby was very active and loved to dance in her belly.

When Rebekah was 37 weeks pregnant, she began having Braxton Hicks contractions. She was doing everything possible to alleviate the aches and pain. She’d walk, perform breathing exercises, and move back and forth on a bouncing ball. While it seemed to calm down the contractions, she began having more frequent contractions several days later. At 39 weeks, she was admitted into the hospital and labor was induced. Her nurses evaluated her progress and noticed the baby’s heart rate was dropping.

“My labor wasn’t progressing very well,” said Rebekah. “At that point, I was given medicine to speed up my contractions. As I was going through labor, my nurses checked the ultrasound monitor and they noticed that my baby had ingested meconium (her first stool) which can lead to serious breathing problems after birth. As a result, my OB-GYN determined it was best to deliver my baby right away. As I was being prepped for an emergency Cesarean section, my fiancé and I were so nervous. Up until this point, I had an uneventful pregnancy. We tried to stay positive and basically roll with the punches.”

On November 12, the couple welcomed their daughter, Paisleigh. Immediately after she was born, Paisleigh was transferred to neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) at The Children’s Hospital of San Antonio for closer monitoring.

“As a new mother, it was heart-breaking to see my baby in an incubator hooked up to everything you could imagine,” said Rebekah. “She was on oxygen and connected to different machines. My daughter wasn’t moving, and it was hard to see her in this condition. I was glad she made it here.”

Upon arrival, Paisleigh was treated for meconium aspiration, which occurs when a baby ingests amniotic fluid containing meconium (baby’s first stool) into their lungs. When these particles stick to the lungs, it can prevent a baby from breathing properly resulting in respiratory distress. In Paisleigh’s case, she developed persistent pulmonary hypertension, or high blood pressure in her lungs, due to the meconium build-up, which restricted the flow of blood into her lungs where it normally picks up oxygen.

“When treating pulmonary hypertension, our primary goal is to increase oxygen flow to the baby’s organs to prevent further complications,” said Dr. Maria Pierce, perinatal neonatologist at The Children’s Hospital of San Antonio. “Our team responded quickly and gave Paisleigh the care she needed. To help her lungs recover and heal, we placed her on ECMO for several days, which is a heart-lung bypass machine that takes over the baby’s heart and lung functions and delivers oxygen to the brain and other parts of the body. ECMO is the highest form of life support that can be provided to a critically ill infant. We are fortunate to have the resources available to be able to offer it here at The Children’s Hospital of San Antonio.”

The ECMO program at The Children’s Hospital is the most active, comprehensive, and experienced neonatal, pediatric, and cardiac ECMO center in South-Central Texas.

After 18 days in the NICU, Paisleigh was discharged on November 30, just weeks before Christmas. Rebekah says if it wasn’t for the wonderful doctors and nurses who took such great care of her baby, her outcome could have been completely different.

“I had the greatest team of doctors and nurses,” said Rebekah. “They were amazing from the very moment she was admitted to the NICU. If I had a question or concern, it was never hard to reach them. As a first-time mother, I had so many questions to ask. The NICU saved my daughter’s life. Despite everything we’ve been through, I am grateful my baby is alive and with us.”

You can help make a difference that will last a lifetime. To support life-saving programs at The Children’s Hospital of San Antonio, please visit ChildrensHospitalSAFoundation.org.