A premature baby whose heart stopped beating for 17 minutes is miraculously home after more than three months in hospital.
Bethany Homar, 28, was told there was a high chance her son would not survive when she was rushed for an emergency caesarean at 26 weeks and three days.
She suffered a placental abruption, where the placenta separates from the uterus wall before birth, which can be fatal for tots.
Isaiah Gordon was born weighing just 1lb 10oz in April at the local Sheffield Children’s Hospital, South Yorks.
He had to be resuscitated for 17 minutes before he started breathing.
Isaiah had multiple blood transfusions to keep him alive but scans showed just two small bleeds and no brain damage.
And after 112 days in hospital he was able to come home on oxygen.
Bethany said: “I was given two choices. Let him die inside me while they stopped my bleeding or have him there and then with a high chance that he wouldn’t make it.
“When they told me they had resuscitated him for 17 minutes I couldn’t believe it.
“I can’t believe he is now home and OK. He’s a miracle.”
Bethany found out she was expecting her fourth child, and first with her partner, Reuben Gordon, 28, a warehouse packer, in December 2021.
Bethany had a smooth pregnancy until she started getting cramps at 26 weeks and noticed blood in her bath.
Bethany was given two options - doctors could stop the bleeding and let her baby pass away inside her or risk a c-section which didn’t have good odds for his survival.
She said: “I didn’t know what had happened when I came round. Then they told me he was very sick, and they were not sure if he would survive.
“He wasn’t born breathing and doctors told me they resuscitated him for 17 minutes and if it had been a few more minutes they would have had to stop. “He pulled through at the last second.”
Isaiah was born with a hole in his heart and an open valve - which doctors will continue to monitor as he gets older.
Bethany said: “He has chronic lung disease so he’s on oxygen still at home.But it’s very surreal that he’s home.
“For a while it didn’t seem like there was an end in sight. Now he’s 7lbs 13oz and smiling and cooing at us.
“It’s uncertain how affected he will be until he’s older. But I’m just so glad he’s home.”
Reuben said: “It all happened so quickly after Bethany was taken into hospital.
“I couldn’t go in with her for the c-section, but I got to see Isaiah just after he was born.
“He was so tiny, but he did a little yawn that gave me a feeling that he would be OK. But it was really scary, and he was so poorly for a long time.
“We’re just glad he’s now home.”
