Celebrating her first birthday is just the latest miracle in the life of Lynlee Boemer.
Celebrating her first birthday is just the latest miracle in the life of a Texas baby who was born twice.
Read: Baby is Born for a Second Time After Surgeons Operated on Her While Still in Mother's Womb
Lynlee Boemer of Plano turned 1 on Tuesday.
“She’s doing really good,” her mom, Margaret Boemer said in an interview with the Texas Children’s Fetal Center. “She’s hitting all of her milestones and we’re very surprised and blessed and thankful for how well she’s doing.”
Despite officially being born in June 2016, the first time Lynlee left the womb was about three months earlier.
Boemer was 16 weeks pregnant when doctors found an abnormal tumor during a routine ultrasound. They later confirmed her fetus had a sacrococcygeal teratoma, or a tumor growing from her tailbone, and it would compete with the heart for circulation as Lynlee continued growing in her mother’s womb.
“Sometimes these tumors can be well tolerated in the fetus [but] her heart showed signs of starting to fail,” pediatric surgeon Dr. Darrell Cass told InsideEdition.com earlier this year.
Worried that Lynlee wouldn’t survive, doctors decided to treat the tumor with fetal surgery, where she was removed from the womb through an incision in the uterus at 23 weeks and 5 days. She was then gently replaced inside her mother.
"It's been unsuccessful many times," he said. "A lot can go wrong and the fetus can die after, or during, the surgery."
Lynlee was born again at 36 weeks.
Read: Twin Babies Are Born 2 Weeks Apart: 'I Didn't Even Know That Was Possible'
“She’s crawling all over the house,” her mom said. “We keep up the baby gates to keep her contained, but she doesn’t like that. She’s ready to explore.”
Boemer explained Lynlee originally had some trouble with movement but is now doing well thanks to physical therapy. She also has had gastrointestinal and neurological issues that require treatment.
"To think how far she has come to be here with us," she said. "We're thankful we gave her a chance at life."
