A mum admitted to hospital to have a 22lb tumour removed was stunned when doctors found what was lurking behind it – a full-term baby.
Suze Lopez was scheduled to have the enormous benign cyst removed, after it had been growing for years, but got the shock of a lifetime when her pregnancy was discovered.
While she had tested positive in a routine pregnancy test, doctors had advised that the ovarian cyst could be causing a ‘false positive’.
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Three days later, Suze, 41, was admitted to the hospital with abdominal pains, where doctors found she was experiencing a “very rare” abdominal ectopic pregnancy.
Her surgeon, John Ozimek of Cedars Sinai Hospital, said in a statement shared with Need To Know:
“Suze was pregnant, but her uterus was empty, and a giant benign ovarian cyst weighing over 20lbs was taking up so much space.
“We then discovered a nearly full-term baby boy in a small space in the abdomen, near the liver, with his butt resting on the uterus.
“A pregnancy this far outside the uterus that continues to develop is almost unheard of.”
The medic explained that as the baby grew inside Suze’s abdomen, behind the mass, it pushed the very large cyst forward.
He added: “It makes sense that she just thought the tumour was getting bigger again, not that she could be pregnant.”
It is “extraordinarily rare” for an infant to survive an abdominal ectopic pregnancy, as the placenta cannot safely grow there, creating a high risk of catastrophic maternal bleeding, resulting in the death of the fetus.
But, in this case, the baby had been able to grow to full-term and was thriving.
The tot, a boy, weighed 8lb upon birth and was named Ryu.
Doctors said he had a “feisty” personality from the get-go.
His mum had been trying to fall pregnant with her second child for years before the shock discovery – and even the positive pregnancy test didn’t provide a clue.
Suze, a nurse from Bakersfield, California, said: “Because of the large ovarian cyst that had been growing for years, it could have been a false positive, even ovarian cancer.
“And I was used to very irregular periods and some abdominal discomfort.
“I could not believe that after 17 years of praying and trying for a second child, that I was actually pregnant.”
Gynaecological oncologist Michael Manuel, who was called in to remove the giant cyst, said of the experience: “It was profound to see this full-term baby sitting behind a very large ovarian tumour, not in the uterus.
“In my entire career, I’ve never even heard of one making it this far into the pregnancy.
“We had to figure out how to deliver the baby with a placenta and its blood vessels attached in the abdomen, remove the very large ovarian mass and do everything we could to save mom and this child.”
It took a team of 30 experts to pull off such a feat – and the cyst was eventually lifted out of the way so the baby could be delivered.
Suze started haemorrhaging shortly afterwards, and the team worked in an “intense” environment to help her.
Ryu remained in the hospital for two weeks but “quickly reached all of the important benchmarks for surviving well”.
His doctors say he “defied all the odds”.
Suze similarly recovered quickly and was reunited with Ryu in the NICU alongside her husband, Andrew, and their teenage daughter, Kaila.
Andrew said: “He is our gift, and Ryu and Suze are my miracles.
“They let me in the operating room, and it was tough to watch what she was going through, and amazing to see Ryu delivered.
“So yes, many prayers have been answered.
“I appreciate every little thing.”
Suze added: “Every day is a gift and I’m never going to waste it.”
