JACKSONVILLE, Fla — A Jacksonville family is thrilled to see their newborn daughter now moving her arms and legs.
That normal baby activity wasn’t always a certainty.
Action News Jax told you back in July about a pregnant woman who traveled to Philadelphia for life-saving fetal surgery following a Utero Spina Bifida diagnosis.
Timothy Newman, and his wife Christine Newman, are counting their blessings after their baby girl Caroline, was born premature just two weeks ago.
>>> STREAM ACTION NEWS JAX LIVE <<<
Caroline was diagnosed with Spina Bifida before she was even born, it’s a rare spinal condition that affects newborns.
Newman, says he didn’t know what to think when he first heard this diagnosis, but after what doctors told him he knew it wasn’t good.
“We were trying to avoid bladder and bowel issues, as well as the loss of the function of her legs and paralysis,” said Newman.
So the Newmans decided to have a risky fetal surgery to help Caroline.
[DOWNLOAD: Free Action News Jax app for alerts as news breaks]
Newman’s wife., Christine had to travel to Philadelphia, and have that surgery at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia.
“It was a successful surgery,” said Newman.
The Newman family was expecting Caroline, to be born in October, but she arrived nine weeks early.
Doctors performed an emergency C-section, and her brothers, Truitt, and Bennet, met their baby sister for the first time in the NICU just days ago.
[SIGN UP: Action News Jax Daily Headlines Newsletter]
“Her umbilical cord was wrapped around her neck twice. It was slowly cutting the circulation off to her brain,” said Newman.
I spoke with Christine Newman who is still at the hospital in Philadelphia. She says when she saw her daughter’s limbs moving, she could only thank God.
“We started crying, I just stared at her toes wiggling, it’s just amazing,” said Christine Newman.
“God works in a lot of ways. Through medicine, doctors, through miracles. I think each one of those happened in this case,” said Timothy Newman.
Click here to download the free Action News Jax news and weather apps, click here to download the Action News Jax Now app for your smart TV and click here to stream Action News Jax live.