Doctors Help Save Baby, Mom With Cancer

HOUSTON - A couple from New Mexico had to race to Houston more than three months ago, to not only save their unborn baby, but also the pregnant mom's life. It's been an emotional rollercoaster ride, but a team of doctors in the Texas Medical Center has helped them through every loop along the way.

Jacob and Chasity call Caleb their "Miracle Baby."

They believe if Chasity hadn't gotten pregnant with him, they wouldn't have realized early enough that Chasity had a very rare form of cancer.

She says it was a very difficult pregnancy from the start. She had a hard time breathing and couldn't even lie down.

Then one fateful night, she started vomiting blood. Jacob rushed her to the emergency room.

At first, doctors thought it was walking pneumonia. Then, the next day, after draining two liters off of her lungs and taking a few scans, they realized she had a rare malignant tumor on her heart.

Jacob says only .0001 percent of people have this type of tumor, and to make things worse - it was on the left side of her heart, which makes it even more rare.

Her first doctors suggested she terminate her pregnancy and get on a list for a heart transplant.

She opted to travel to Houston.

A team of doctors took her son three months prematurely.

While she was recovering from a C-Section and undergoing her first dose of strong chemotherapy at Methodist Hospital, her son Caleb matured in an incubator a few doors down at Texas Children's Hospital. Her nurses set up a web cam.

She couldn't touch her baby, but at least she could see the little guy!

They've come along way!

Caleb just celebrated his 100th day of life. He's gone from weighing 1 pound, 8 ounces, to 6 pounds!

Chasity is about to undergo her 7th round of chemo. Her cancer is so rare that her doctors are taking her treatment day by day.

She says surgery wasn't an option and could prove to be fatal, so she's hoping chemo will help shrink her tumor.

She says her biggest hope for Caleb is for him to grow healthy and happy!

Nurses at Texas Children's Hospital want to encourage anyone who is pregnant or planning to get to pregnant, to plan ahead! They say it's important to know exactly where a Neo Natal Unit Level 2 or 3 - (simply known as NICU 2 or 3) is close to their home.

This is a department that is equipped with everything needed to save a premature baby. Texas Children's has one of the largest NICU's in the country and the largest in our area.

To learn more about the Newborn Center at Texas Children's Hospital, visit http://www.texaschildrens.org/carecenters/newborn/default.aspx

FOX 26's Melissa Wilson sat down with the family. Click play on on the video to watch her profile of them.