From heartbreak to hope: First UC Davis fetal care patient turns 10
By Tricia Tomiyoshi
(SACRAMENTO)
After fertility challenges, two miscarriages and the full-term stillbirth of their daughter, Elk Grove couple Khae Saetern and Bobby Angeles found hope once more.
The year was 2016. They were having a baby boy. His name was to be Matthew, a name that literally means “gift of God.”
But Saetern’s ultrasound at 32 weeks revealed a problem. Matthew had fluid in his lungs and in his heart.
The life-changing fetal diagnosis was one that they had never heard of: Hydrops.
“Matthew’s condition of fetal hydrops is essentially lethal. If we had done nothing, we would have expected him to be stillborn,” said Shinjiro Hirose, the UC Davis Health physician who was part of his care team.
Bobby Angeles holds baby Matthew at the UC Davis Neonatal Intensive Care Unit.
“I kept thinking this is not happening to us again,” Angeles said.
But the couple also received a lifeline, a chance of survival for their unborn baby. The answer was a first-of-its-kind surgery at UC Davis Fetal Care and Treatment Center.
It would be the first fetal surgery at this new fetal care facility, located in UC Davis Children’s Hospital, designed to help families just like theirs.
A life-saving intervention before birth
At 32 weeks gestation, the surgeons inserted a catheter to drain the fluid from Matthew’s chest – all while he was still in the womb. Within days, the hydrops improved.
Matthew Saetern-Angeles, age 10.
About a week later, Saetern went into labor.
Matthew Saetern-Angeles — the baby that they had wanted so much and waited for — was born.
“The most beautiful thing is that he did cry when he was born. It made us cry. That was the best,” remembered Saetern.
Celebrating 10 years
This fall, the UC Davis Fetal Care and Treatment Center celebrates its 10th anniversary. Matthew also turned 10 years old last month.
Saetern and Angeles beam with pride when they talk about their growing son … who is now in fourth grade. They describe him as a social butterfly who enjoys school and plays striker on his soccer team. It’s a reality the couple could not have fully imagined 10 years ago.
“We are so grateful for the fetal program at UC Davis and for all that they have done for us and for Matthew,” Angeles said.
