A child prodigy born without kidneys defied all odds.
Emmie Hope Mahoney was born without the vital organ in March 2021 and her mother, Andi Mahoney, was told her daughter would never survive.
But after donating one of her own kidneys shortly after giving birth, Ms Mahoney now has a rich and healthy two-year-old daughter.
Ms. Mahoney, of Jacksonville, Floridahad a normal pregnancy until her 20-week scan in November 2020 revealed that her baby had bilateral renal agenesis, a condition in which the kidneys never develop.
The condition occurs in about one in 4,500 live births in the United States. More than 40 percent of babies with this condition are stillborn, and if they are born alive, most will live only a few hours.
Emmie Hope Mahoney was born without vital organs in March 2021 and her mother, Andi Mahoney, was told her daughter would never survive
When it was time for the birth, doctors were ready to give baby Emmie oxygen. She had to go straight to the operating room
But Ms. Mahoney was determined her daughter would make it.
Shortly after her scan, Ms. Mahoney saw a specialist, Dr. Rueben Quintero of the Fetal Institute in Miami and made the six-hour drive from Jacksonville to Miami.
He said: ‘Only about 0.013 per cent of the cases in America [are diagnosed each year]. The reason it is impossible to survive the condition is because the baby has no fluids. Because they don’t have a kidney to urinate on, they don’t swallow fluids like they should.”
Doctors don’t know what causes the condition, but a quarter of cases have a genetic component.
Bilateral renal agenesis, also called Potter syndrome, also prevents the baby’s lungs from developing. As a result, Ms Mahoney had to receive fluid infusions for the baby for ten weeks while she was still pregnant.
Mrs. Mahoney told USA Today, “I kept traveling back to Miami to get more and keep Emmie alive. My baby needed fluids to breathe. When I hit the 34 week mark I had one [membrane] Crackers.’
“We can’t treat you unless you have a heart attack.”
An Oklahoma woman with a fatal pregnancy complication claims she was told she could not receive treatment until her condition was critical because of the state’s ban on abortion.
A rupture of the membranes is a rupture of the amniotic sac before labor begins. Once the sac ruptures, there is an increased risk of infection.
The expectant mother found a hospital in Stanford, California, that previously dealt with the birth of babies with bilateral renal agenesis.
Ms Mahoney said: “I got on a flight from Jacksonville to California with a broken water.”
“I wanted to go somewhere where I could give my Emmie. They also gave me hope that she would survive.”
When it was time to give birth, doctors were ready to give baby Emmie oxygen and take her straight to the operating room.
Ms Mahoney said: “I only met her after she had an operation. “I didn’t know if she would survive after the first day. It was a lot of waiting and praying.”
Emmie’s lungs were underdeveloped and she desperately needed a kidney.
Although people are born with two kidneys, they can live perfectly healthy lives with only one kidney.
The organs are needed to filter waste products from the body and regulate fluid balance.
Ms. Mahoney was able to donate a kidney to her daughter and on July 25, 2023, doctors performed the transplant.
She said: “I got the best news of my life when I found out we have the same blood types and I was approved for the operation.”
“I didn’t think twice about it. “I knew I was going to donate my kidney to Emmie.”
Emmie was unable to leave the hospital until she was six months old, and even then she had to return to the hospital in California to continue receiving dialysis – a treatment that helps the body remove excess fluid and waste from the blood remove. .
This allowed her to survive until she received her mother’s transplant.
Her family then moved to Atlanta, Georgia to be near Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta, which meant she could have outpatient dialysis at home for two years.
She continued to receive dialysis until she was two and a half years old, when she was deemed well enough to stop treatment.
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Crystal Leahy is an author and health journalist who writes for The Fashion Vibes. With a background in health and wellness, Crystal has a passion for helping people live their best lives through healthy habits and lifestyles.
