Mom who weighs 37 pounds gives birth to healthy son

Associated Press

TULARE, Calif. - A San Joaquin Valley woman who weighs 37 pounds, stands 3 feet tall and uses a wheelchair has given birth to her first child, overcoming serious odds and doubters who advised her to abandon their dream of becoming parents.

Eloysa Vasquez, 38, suffers from Type 3 osteogenesis imperfecta, a disorder that makes bones soft and easily broken. Her tiny, distorted body left little room for a fetus to grow and Vasquez suffered two miscarriages before doctors at Stanford University's Lucile Packard Children's Hospital delivered her son, Timothy, by Cesarean section on Jan. 24.

"We just took one day at a time. We had a lot of people praying for us. We just believed ... and here we have our son," Vasquez told The Fresno Bee for a story Thursday.

Baby Timothy weighed only 3 pounds, seven ounces at birth because doctors had to deliver him eight weeks prematurely to protect the mother's fragile health. The child did not inherit his mother's genetic condition.

"Eloysa had an adult metabolism moving through a pediatric-size body," said obstetrician James Smith. "Her growing uterus was pressuring her entire abdomen," making it hard for Vasquez to breathe.

Vasquez' husband, Roy, who is 5 feet, 8 inches tall, said his wife's small stature can be deceiving.

"She's very strong. She's a strong lady," he said.

According to Stanford, only one in 25,000 to 50,000 births are to a mother with osteogenesis imperfecta, and even fewer involve moms with the severe form with which Vasquez was born. Smith estimates Timothy's birth was a one-in-a.m.illion event.

Judging from her son's long fingers and toes, "I think he's going to be a tall boy," Vasquez said.