MIAMI (WSVN) - A South Florida mother is feeling very fortunate after skilled doctors stepped in when things took a life-threatening turn in just a matter of days, seven months into her pregnancy.
Speaking with reporters on Thursday, Joy Miller and her husband, John Dorvil, held their baby girl, as they thanked the doctors and staff who saved their lives. “I feel amazing now,” said Miller. “Dr. Kramer and Dr. Yasin, they assured me that I was in good hands, and I trusted them, and I had to keep faith.”
At 28 weeks pregnant, Miller said she started feeling unusual movements and kicks from her unborn child. “I was having aggressive kicks from the baby, and this pain was like, I can’t even explain. Unbearable,” she said. “I felt she was trying to tell me something, give me a warning, and I listened. Thank God I listened.”
Miller underwent a series of ultrasounds and MRIs at Jackson North Medical Center’s emergency department. “The baby was not inside the uterus,” said Dr. Salih Yasin, a gynecologist at University of Miami Health System. “The baby had extruded through a hole in the wall of the uterus into the abdomen, and that made a rather slow-moving matter to become a major medical emergency.”
Doctors said, based on previous ultrasounds, the baby did start in the uterus. “We expect that this process may have happened earlier, but it became more apparent, or gave her signs, probably a few days before we had her,” said Yasin.
With the lives of both mother and child on the line, Miller underwent rounds of tests. Shortly after, a team of nearly 45 UHealth and Jackson doctors and staff went in for an emergency cesarean section.
“Luckily enough, she did not bleed to death because that is what sometimes happens, and the baby was reasonably fine,” said Yasin.
Baby Janelle Marie born at just 2 pounds, 11 ounces, was immediately taken to the neonatal intensive care unit at Holtz Children’s Hospital to receive care.
Even though she was named Janelle, her caretakers gave her the nickname “Miracle.”
Dorvil took the opportunity to express his gratitude toward his daughter’s “miracle” workers. “The whole medical staff, I just thank them and appreciate the service that they provided for Joy and Baby Miracle,” he said. “This is the best Father’s Day gift that a dad can ask for.”
“This is a blessed baby. She’s our angel,” said Miller.
In the 30 years Yasin has been at UHealth, he said he’s only seen six or seven cases like Miller’s.
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