Finding out you are expecting is one of the best days of most parents’ lives, following behind the day that baby is born. One young mom was thrilled to find out she had conceived, but a short time after taking a pregnancy test, she also found out she had cancer. She was only 11 weeks pregnant at the time.
If not detected fast enough or treated aggressively enough, breast cancer can be fatal.
Maria Crider wasn’t sure what kind of options she had when her son was growing inside of her. Ending the pregnancy was not an option, but traditional cancer treatments weren’t going to be as easy on a pregnant woman.
Maria’s doctors decided to do whatever they could to treat Maria’s cancer until her baby was born and the more aggressive treatments became an option again. They warned Maria that pregnancy or cancer on their own are tough for the human body to handle; doing both at the same time wasn’t going to be easy.
Maria didn’t care. She was going to beat cancer, but first, she was going to deliver a healthy baby.
Doctors attempted to remove the cancer with surgery, which was the best option at the time. She made it through the surgery, and so did her unborn baby.
Maria was diagnosed with cancer in October and gave birth to her son in April. She named him Logan.
Maria talked about her ordeal, saying:
“It’s been an emotional rollercoaster. I’ve been through a unilateral mastectomy, a planned cesarean, a salpingectomy, 16 chemotherapies, 25 out of 28 radiations. I still have ways to go before I can put this part of my life behind me.”
Photographer Bonnie Hussey was there to take photos of the amazing birth. Bonnie enjoys photographing new babies and mothers and she usually picks two or three moms to get free shots. She knew Maria deserved a free photos package.
Bonnie took the amazing photos as Logan made his way into the world.
She was able to capture an amazing miracle, as well as the excitement of a new baby. She also captures Maria’s amazing strength and perseverance. Maria was determined to deliver a healthy baby even if she wasn’t healthy herself, and that’s exactly what she did.
The photographer said:
“A mutual friend of ours that I met when we were living in Washington state actually tagged her in my giveaway. Since I had just moved back to the Central Florida area, I wanted to give back to the community I grew up in.”
Maria was very grateful for the photo session.
She talked about the delivery day and how she had mixed emotions. She was so excited to meet her baby, but she was also terrified that her cancer treatment may have caused health problems for him. Even though her doctors had reassured her that Logan was on track to be a healthy baby, she was still anxious to find out herself.
“It was very cool, but the biggest thing for me was seeing him born and be totally perfect. I did four cycles of Adriamycin and Cytoxan while pregnant. His delivery was confirmation that everything the doctors had told me was true and that he was perfectly healthy.”
She was thrilled with the photos Bonnie had captured.
“Bonnie captured all the emotions from the nervousness and excitement in the pre-op to the relief and joy and pain the operating room. I love the photos! It’s my ‘Hell yeah! We made it!’ moment caught in photos.”
Maria and Logan are both doing well, and people will never forget the brave mom who fought cancer for herself and her unborn child.
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