A woman in Texas gave birth to her baby two weeks early so that her dying husband could meet and hold the child before he died.
Meet the Parents of a Two-Week-Old Baby Early
Mark Aulger was 52 years old when he learned he was cancer-free after eight months of chemotherapy. That Christmas, he and his family of six celebrated and looked forward to the new year with excitement, especially after learning that Diane, Mark’s wife, was expecting their fifth child. Everything seemed to be looking up at the time, and Mark and the rest of the Aulger family believed they were getting a fresh start.
Unfortunately, Mark learned on January 3 of the following year that the side effects of the chemotherapy had been detrimental to his lungs after rushing to the hospital complaining of difficulty breathing. His medical condition was pulmonary fibrosis.
Mark sought treatment right away, hoping to overcome this health issue after overcoming cancer.
“We thought he could get on steroid treatment and oxygen and live for years,” Diane explained, explaining their initial reaction.
However, after a couple of weeks, doctors told the family that the steroid treatment and oxygen could not sustain him—that Mark only had one week to live.
That’s when the doctor brought up a question with Diane.
“When are you going to have this baby?” the doctor said to her.
That’s when she decided nearly on the spot that she would deliver the baby early so Mark and his youngest baby girl could spend some time together.
On January 18, just 15 days after Mark went to the hospital with difficulty breathing, doctors induced labor and she had the baby 2 weeks early, in the same hospital room with her dying husband.
They named her Savannah, and Mark was able to hold his baby.
“The day she was born his oxygen levels were really high,” Diane said of her dying husband. “He held her for 45 minutes. Him and I just cried the whole time.”
Watch the touching story here:
