BAKERSFIELD, Calif. (KERO) — Imagine giving birth just a few days before finding out you were pregnant. Meet this Bakersfield family whose story will leave you stunned — and their miracle baby.
23 ABC got to meet baby Ryu, who doctors are calling a one-in-a-million baby — full-term, healthy, and born just days after his mom discovered she was pregnant.
Suze & Andrew Lopez are the parents of baby Ryu ,and they say, "I started with ovarian cysts about 20 years ago, and they removed my right ovary and right ovarian cyst. They left the left ovary and cyst. That cyst had been growing for 20 plus years, and this year I started feeling a lot of pressure and pain, so I said, 'Okay, doc, let's get this thing out.' I got blood work done, and while waiting for the CT scan, I checked a pregnancy test — and sure enough, it was positive."
Doctors confirmed this was an abdominal pregnancy — meaning the baby was developing outside the uterus, near the liver, hidden behind a large tumor that had to be removed.
"A pregnancy this far outside the uterus that is living is pretty much unprecedented." Dr. John Ozimek, Director, Cedars-Sinai Labor & Delivery said.
Baby Ryu was determined. He was born five days later at Cedars-Sinai Hospital in Los Angeles.
Dr. Sara Dayanim, an MD, with Cedars-Sinai Neonatologist, says, "I was amazed by this little guy. He came out of anesthesia pretty quickly. He was a feisty little guy by the time we got into the NICU, kind of fighting us."
Suze: "I'm so grateful every single day for this blessing because he defied so many odds." She said
Andrew: "Just one of those things where if you do research for abnormal pregnancies, the outcomes aren't always favorable. Going into this procedure, they were kind of telling us the odds and what to expect — and none of them were good. Only by the grace of God did everything come out perfect for him." He said.
Now, almost four months later, mom, dad, baby Ryu, and their teenage daughter are all back home in Bakersfield. He was named "Ryu" because, like the cartoon character, he is a fighter. He is their holiday miracle — a baby who defied all odds.
Madi: "Does he make your family whole? Is this the missing chapter?"
Suze & Andrew: "Yes, he absolutely completes our family."
For this Bakersfield family, baby Ryu is proof that modern-day miracles really do happen.
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