Full term 'miracle' baby born after 'unprecedented' ectopic pregnancy

A California family is celebrating the arrival of a newborn they never expected, after the mom learned she was pregnant from a pre-surgical pregnancy test prior to the removal of a 22-pound ovarian tumor.

Even more shocking, the baby was growing completely outside of her uterus, in what is known as an abdominal ectopic pregnancy. Doctors are calling the baby's survival unprecedented — and a medical miracle.

Key Takeaways:

• 41-year-old Suze Lopez was preparing for surgery to remove an ovarian cyst, when she learned she was unexpectedly pregnant.

• Doctors discovered that her full-term baby was growing outside of her uterus, in what's known as an abdominal ectopic pregnancy.

• Though such pregnancies are life-threatening for both the mother and her preborn child, Suze successfully gave birth to her healthy, eight-pound baby boy, named Ryu.

• The Lopez family say Ryu is a gift from God, and an answer to their prayers.

The Details:

Suze Lopez, 41, of Bakersfield, California, has experienced ovarian problems for years. Doctors at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles were scheduled to remove a 22-pound ovarian cyst from Suze, but asked her to take a routine pregnancy test first. The result — which was positive — stunned her, and she said she didn't believe it at first.

'Medical miracle:' Doctors deliver baby while removing 22-pound tumor from mother

“Because of the large ovarian cyst that had been growing for years, it could have been a false positive, even ovarian cancer,” Suze explained in a Cedars-Sinai news release. “And I was used to very irregular periods and some abdominal discomfort. I could not believe that after 17 years of praying and trying for a second child, that I was actually pregnant.”

The ovarian tumor was so large, it masked the pregnancy, and she was completely unaware that she was also carrying an eight pound little boy.

Three days later, after surprising her husband Andrew with the happy news, Suze was experiencing abdominal pain. They headed into the hospital, where doctors realized her blood pressure was dangerously high. They ordered an MRI and an ultrasound, and were shocked at what they saw. Suze's uterus was empty, and her full-term baby was growing outside the uterus, in her abdomen.

“Suze was pregnant, but her uterus was empty, and a giant benign ovarian cyst weighing over 20 pounds was taking up so much space,” explained Dr. John Ozimek, DO, medical director of Labor and Delivery at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center. “We then discovered a nearly full-term baby boy in a small space in the abdomen, near the liver, with his butt resting on the uterus. A pregnancy this far outside the uterus that continues to develop is almost unheard of.”

Doctors successfully delivered baby Ryu via c-section in what was a complex delivery involving 30 medical professionals. Following the delivery, Suze started hemorrhaging and had to be given 11 units of blood.

Meanwhile, baby Ryu headed to the NICU with concerns that he might have difficulty breathing.

“We were very prepared to handle any lung problems the baby might have. But he came out of anesthesia pretty quickly and he was feisty,” said Dr. Sara Dayanim. “The following day we were able to remove the breathing tube, and over the course of his two weeks with us, Ryu quickly reached all of the important benchmarks for surviving well. He defied all the odds.”

Suze also recovered fairly quickly, crediting the medical team at Cedars-Sinai, and focused on caring for her newborn baby.

Zoom In:

Ryu was growing via an abdominal ectopic pregnancy. While most ectopic pregnancies — which constitute just one to two percent of all pregnancies — develop inside the fallopian tube, the abdominal ectopic is an even rarer situation (one percent of all ectopic pregnancies) in which the baby develops inside the abdomen. According to the National Institutes of Health, it has a high morbidity and mortality rate.

“It was profound to see this full-term baby sitting behind a very large ovarian tumor, not in the uterus. In my entire career, I’ve never even heard of one making it this far into the pregnancy,” said gynecological oncologist Michael Manuel, MD, of Providence Cedars-Sinai Tarzana Medical Center.

"A [preborn child] this far outside of the uterus, that is living, is pretty much unprecedented," remarked Dr. Ozimek.

The Bottom Line:

Suze remarked that after the birth of their teenage daughter, Kaila, they prayed for years for a second baby. They truly believe that Ryu — whose middle name, Jesse, means "gift from God," — is an answer to those prayers.

“He is our gift. And Ryu and Suze are my miracles,” Andrew said. “They let me in the operating room, and it was tough to watch what she was going through, and amazing to see Ryu delivered. So yes, many prayers have been answered.”

“I appreciate every little thing. Everything. Every day is a gift and I’m never going to waste it,” Suze added. “God gave me this baby so that he could be an example to the world that God exists—that miracles, modern-day miracles, do happen.”