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A is For Abby, B For Brenda; C For Cure?

Abigail Lee Killian came into the world wailing, and with more hair than her mom has.

It was the hair that Dr. Linda Moore, the obstetrician in charge of Brenda Killian’s C-section, noticed first. Long dark hair, swirling in the clear amniotic fluid. And then, as the head emerged, a squall.

“Before I could even suction out her mouth and nose,” Moore said, “she let out a yell to announce her own delivery.”

The most welcome sound in any delivery room is a newborn’s first cry. All the more so in Abigail’s case because her mom has breast cancer, diagnosed in April when Brenda was four months pregnant. She underwent not only surgery to remove her left breast but also four rounds of chemotherapy with highly toxic anticancer drugs designed to attack rapidly growing cells.

Until recently, patients such as Brenda had to choose: end the pregnancy and start cancer therapy, or delay treatment until after the baby comes – which might be too late. But newer evidence suggests that giving chemo to a pregnant woman poses less danger to her fetus than once supposed – especially after the first trimester.

“Anything that Mom ingests, inhales or takes into the system in any way can potentially cross the placental barrier, and the fetus can be exposed,” Moore said. But the placenta also acts as a filter.

“Babies are very efficient at extracting oxygen and nutrients from Mom,” she said. “By design, they are survivors.”

Just a few minutes old, Abigail was wrapped in a light blanket and pink cap and handed by a nurse to Brenda’s husband, Larry. He carried her to Brenda.

“Honey, she’s gonna look like you,” Larry said, placing Abigail on the left side of Brenda’s chest.

“Oh, my God,” Brenda whispered through a tearful smile. “She’s beautiful.”

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Abigail, or Abby as her family calls her, turns 5 days old this morning.

It’s far too early to say for certain that her mom’s chemo will not affect her development, including her own fertility. But the early signs are all reassuring. To begin with, she was born full-term and full-size.

“Gi-normous,” as her mom put it. Abby weighed in at 7 1/2 pounds, bigger at birth than her 3-year-old brother, Jack, who was born a week late.

“She came out scrapping, fighting, tough,” Brenda said of the birth at Legacy Good Samaritan Hospital & Medical Center. “A huge sense of relief came over us.”

“And that incredible hair!” Larry said. “Another great sign that the chemo didn’t get to her.”

The more-clinical signs were promising, too. Abigail scored well – 8 and 9 out of possible 10s – on her Apgar tests, a measure of newborn health based on a nurse’s examination one minute and five minutes after birth. The test takes into account a newborn’s activity, pulse, respiration, skin tone and cry.

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