Austintown mom delivers 'miracle baby'

By WILLIAM K. ALCORN

alcorn@vindy.com

AUSTINTOWN

Tara Vigarino had dreamed of becoming a mother since pretending to burp her dolls as a child.

Finally her dream came true on Feb. 23 and today she is happily celebrating being a new mom on Mother’s Day with family and friends who were her support system during a very difficult pregnancy.

Even getting pregnant was a trial for Tara and her husband, Dominic, who had tried to conceive for more than seven years. Finally, after a second round of in vitro fertilization, their dream became reality. The Austintown couple were elated.

The moment Tara learned she was pregnant was sublime.

But the pregnancy turned frightening, and possibly deadly, when on Nov. 18, 2015, her amniotic sac ruptured, a rare condition called pre-term premature rupture of the membrane. It means her water broke too soon.

This condition occurs in about 3 percent of pregnancies and puts both the baby and mother at risk, medical officials said.

Tara and her husband rushed to a local hospital where they received devastating news.

Doctors told them there was no chance — no hope — no possibility that the baby would live.

“They said go home and expect the worst, or terminate the pregnancy,” Tara said.

Those were not acceptable options for the couple, however, and they sought a second opinion at the Cleveland Clinic Hillcrest Hospital in Mayfield Heights.

“We were given hope,” Tara said.

Hillcrest doctors put her on complete bed rest at home, and said if she did not develop an infection or lose the baby by the 23rd week of her pregnancy, she would be admitted to the hospital.

During her time on bed rest, Tara did everything in her power to stay healthy and maintain the baby’s health, said Dr. Jeff

Schwersenski, Cleveland Clinic children’s neonatologist.

“Tara was a wonderful patient during her time in the hospital, and now she’s a wonderful mother. When you spend that much time in a hospital, many folks tend to get cabin fever, but Tara took everything in stride. She did everything her physicians advised, and that really helped get her and baby Dominic this far — which is incredible.”

“Although Tara presented very early with ruptured membranes, the leak seemed to seal up and luckily the fluid re-accumulated, which is remarkable for both Tara and Dominic. Had the fluid not re-accumulated, the situation may have played out very differently,” Dr. Schwersenski said.

“With Tara’s membranes rupturing so early, it put Dominic at risk not only for infection, but also for pulmonary hypoplasia, which is the incomplete development of the lungs. In babies with pulmonary hypoplasia, chance of survival is limited, but fortunately Dominic’s lungs were able to continue to grow and develop, due in part to the re-accumulation of fluid,” said Dr. Schwersenski.

“Since Dominic was born two months early, he is still considered high-risk, and he will need developmental follow-up, but I’m expecting him to do very well,” he said.

“During my pregnancy, every day was just a blessing to get further and further,” said Tara.

Finally, against all odds, on Christmas Eve, Dec. 24, 2015, she was admitted to Hillcrest.

Still, the Vigarinos’ unborn son faced more life-threatening challenges.

On Feb. 23, 31 weeks and four days into her pregnancy and exactly two months before her original due date of April 23, Tara gave birth to her “miracle baby,” Dominic Michael Vigarino, who arrived via C-section, with Dr. Trina Pagano, a hospital-based obstetrician working on labor and delivery at Hillcrest Hospital in attendance.

A C-section is a surgical procedure used to deliver a baby through incisions in the mother’s abdomen and uterus.

Traditionally, doctors have defined full-term pregnancy as 37 to 42 weeks.

But, according to the Cleveland Clinic’s website, the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists recently has divided the last few weeks of pregnancy into groups: 37-39 weeks, early term; 39-41 weeks, full term; 41-42 weeks, late term, and 42 weeks or more, post term.

Not only was Dominic born prematurely under either definition, he was born with the umbilical cord wrapped twice around his neck, and he weighed just 4 pounds, 1 ounce.

“The sound of his little cry, which meant his lungs were functioning, was a relief to his mom,” Dr. Schwersenski said.

Tara is the longest antepartum (the prenatal period) patient Cleveland Clinic Hillcrest had ever experienced.

“To make it to 31 weeks and four days is remarkable. You can imagine what an ordeal that was, but Tara did extremely well. She kept her cheer up and that’s not an easy thing, especially knowing that the baby would be born prematurely, and the lungs might be affected,” the doctor said.

Dominic was in the Hillcrest Hospital neonatal intensive care unit for 36 days, with his mother by his side. When they came home together on March 30, he weighed 5 pounds, 15 ounces.

Today, little Dominic weighs 8 pounds and appears to not have significant lung damage or other developmental issues.

Given his history, it even shocks the doctors how well he is doing, Tara said.

“We had a doctor visit about 10 days ago, and he said Dominic is ‘right on track.’”

“After our journey, we were blessed to be able to bring him home and hold him. Some people get irritated when their baby cries, but for us it’s music to our ears. It’s the family we’ve always wanted,” Tara said.

Looking back at the past few months, Tara said it was “definitely scary.”

“We didn’t know how this journey would end, but we never gave up. We rolled with the punches and hoped for the best. This journey has shown us that miracles do happen and a happy ending is possible. Our son is proof of that,” said Tara.