Thanks to the most amazing advancements in technology, today’s ultrasound images give parents-to-be a true-to-life glimpse of what their baby will look like. Does he have dad’s ears? Does she have mom’s nose?

Those technological advancements also allowed one baby to be born twice during one pregnancy.

As few as 10 years ago, 3D ultrasounds weren’t as clear as they are now. It’s truly incredible to see. Now, detailed 4D ultrasounds available today also are exceptional at shedding light on concerns with a growing fetus.

A routine ultrasound detected an abnormal tumor on Baby Lynlee while she was just 16 weeks in utero. Mom Margaret Boemer of Plano, Texas, was crushed when doctors confirmed that the baby had a sacrococcygeal teratoma, or a tumor, growing from her tailbone.

Dr. Darrell Cass, a pediatric surgeon at the Texas Children’s Fetal Center, explained that these tumors are extremely rare, but it is the most common tumor surgeons treat on a newborn.

“Sometimes these tumors can be well tolerated in the fetus [but] her heart showed signs of starting to fail.”

Cass explained that as the tumor grew on the baby, it would compete with her heart and attempt to redirect blood flow to the tumor instead of through her body causing Baby Lynlee to not develop normally. Her heart already was working twice as hard and doctors feared she wouldn’t survive.

Margaret’s pregnancy had been complicated from the start. Baby Lynlee was a twin until her sibling died in utero. She sought the help of an expert to save Lynlee, but many refused to take on her seemingly hopeless case.

Dr. Cass and Texas Children’s Fetal Center were willing to tackle the tough case. He decided to pursue fetal surgery where the medical team would remove Lynlee’s tumor by pulling her out of the womb at 23 weeks and five days of age. They would make an incision in Margaret’s uterus while both mom and baby were under general anesthesia.

As soon as the tumor would be removed, the medical team planned to gently place Baby Lynlee back into her mother’s womb where she would remain and hopefully continue growing into a healthy baby and reach full term.

Before Lynlee’s surgery the procedure had only been carried out successfully twice, the doctor said.

“It’s been unsuccessful many times. A lot can go wrong and the fetus can die after, or during the surgery.”

Margaret knew that Lynlee’s heart could stop beating while in surgery – and shockingly that did happen. But doctors were able to resuscitate her mid-surgery.

Baby Lynlee could bleed after the surgery and pass away within 24 hours. Or amniotic fluid could leak out of the uterus during surgery, which would force Margaret into preterm labor, also risking the baby’s life.

Fortunately, none of those heartbreaking scenarios materialized.

“Little Lynlee had zero complications and she recovered perfectly.”

As soon as Lynlee and Margaret were in the clear, Mom remained on bedrest for the remainder of her pregnancy until June 6 when Lynlee was born, marking the second time she left the womb in one pregnancy.

Eight days after her birth, Lynlee underwent another surgery to remove the rest of the tumor. At four months of age, Lynlee was determined to be doing wonderfully.

“She’s completely cured. She’s going to be a normal child. She’ll go to kindergarten with her friends. That is incredibly rare.”

Margaret was in disbelief that her baby girl pulled through, considering all she’d been through.

“God gave us this gift, and we’re thankful we could give her life.”

When Lynlee turned the big one, her mom of course threw her a huge birthday party, especially considering they weren’t sure she would survive the pregnancy and surgery.

“She’s doing really good. She’s hitting all of her milestones and we’re very surprised and blessed and thankful for how well she’s doing. She’s crawling all over the house. We keep up the baby gates to keep her contained, but she doesn’t like that. She’s ready to explore.”