Four weeks before Angelina’s due date in August of 2020, her mother went for a routine Gyn/Ob checkup, expecting everything to be normal. However, when the doctors noted her high blood pressure and sodium levels, they determined that Angelina’s mother had developed preeclampsia, a hypertensive disorder during pregnancy that can be life-threatening to both mother and child. The doctors recommended that she go straight to the hospital, where Angelina was born via an emergency C-section — without a heartbeat.

At the local hospital, doctors stabilized the newborn, provided a shot of adrenaline that restarted Angelina’s heart and put her on supplementary oxygen. Then, they transferred mother and daughter to Johns Hopkins, where doctors assured Angelina’s father, Ulises, that they would receive high-quality care for this challenging complication.

While her mother recovered from the birth, Angelina was sent to the Johns Hopkins Children’s Center Level 4 NICU, which cares for the highest risk level patients. Because the placenta had separated from the inner wall of the uterus before Angelina’s delivery, it prevented the flow of oxygen to her brain, which could have led to brain damage. Ulises remembers, “The doctors told us the damage was done, it was just a matter of mitigating the risk.”

One way to do this is by providing body-cooling therapy, during which the baby is placed in a bed with a blanket that has water circulating through it. Ultimately, this cools the baby’s body temperature, which can help slow the brain’s metabolism, slow down energy emitted from the body, and potentially reduce inflammation in the brain.

Ulises had little time to process the situation that had just occurred. But while he did, he found the support to help him navigate the challenges. From answering his medical questions, to locating vouchers for food during the extended time away from home, to helping him get situated with sleeping arrangements to stay near Angelina, the Children’s Center staff helped him through.

Three weeks after Angelina’s birth, she had progressed enough that doctors determined she was ready to leave the NICU. Before they could release her, the care team had to make sure she could take a bottle on her own to help assess motor skill development. Doctors believed the best case would be if she could drink it in 10 minutes; if she could do that, she would have a good long-term outlook.

Angelina beat that estimation, finishing the bottle in three minutes and 46 seconds — an amazing turn of events.

“That gave us hope,” says Ulises.

Soon after, Angelina had her first MRI, and — in another surprising twist — her brain was nearly recovered. While there was still minor swelling, doctors were confident that it would go down. “I remember bawling like a little kid, just in tears, because this came full circle,” says Ulises. “From the moment I heard that my daughter was basically dead with no heartbeat, to the point that we heard that she was going to be OK, it was amazing.”

Today, Angelina is 4 years old. She is bilingual, and shows off by counting to 100. She has amazing motor skills, jumping and leaping around her house.

“I truly believe that God used Johns Hopkins to heal my daughter, but also to help me as a father,” Ulises says. “I want to thank everyone who took care of us.”