Against All Odds
How a Texas Mom Refused to Listen and Instead Turned to Faith to Deliver a Healthy Baby Boy
By: Jessica Barnhart
Part One
Ever since their third child was born, Jessica Barnhart and her husband, Ryan, felt an undeniable longing to add a fourth child to their young family. In 2021 the couple made the decision for Ryan to have a vasectomy reversal, and the couple was cautiously excited to become pregnant after years of hopeful wanting and waiting for 5 months post-reversal. Having endured 3 prior miscarriages, the couple decided to wait until Jess was 8 weeks pregnant before seeing her obstetrician in Fort Worth rather than going in at the first moment they received a positive pregnancy test as they had done the previous 6 times.
“I was overjoyed when I first learned I was pregnant again after having my head full of doubts, question and anxious thoughts…but once I first saw the first positive pregnancy test, I felt relief and comfort…as we had been here before, and we were so far having our prayers answered,” said Jess.
Feelings of joy and elation soon became fear when Jess was diagnosed with a c-section scar ectopic pregnancy at her first ultrasound appointment. Jess had delivered all three of her children via c-section and had never been told the risks of multiple c-sections other than uterine rupture. Jess’ MFM then gave her the dreaded and matter-of-fact news that the pregnancy was not viable and would need to be terminated.
“We were so upset. That simply wasn’t an option for us, and we weren’t going to accept that,” recalled Jess.
The next few days were filled with late night google searches looking for a glimmer of hope. What she found, however, were pages of horror stories that included warnings of severe post-partum hemorrhage and maternal death. This information would shake anyone, but it was particularly upsetting to Jess and Ryan who were parents to 3 young children, ages 7, 6, and 4. In addition to her role as “mom”, Jess was also responsible for homeschooling her three children and caring for over 100 animals on their farm, located about an hour west of Fort Worth.
“The worst part at first was that I was barely present. I was so scared that I was totally consumed by fear and anxiousness, not only for fear of losing my baby, but just as much out of fear of losing my own life and leaving my three babies at home without a mother and leaving Ryan a widower,” said Jess. “Despite every effort, prayer and encouragement by Ryan and those around me, I was simply so scared about everything that I wasn’t able to do anything.”
Her late-night searches continued until she came across a worldwide Facebook support group that included right around 200 women who had received the same diagnosis. From that group she found a support group for placenta accreta spectrum (PAS), which is when the placenta grows into the uterine wall during pregnancy. She did a quick search for “Dallas” and found a post about an obstetrician in Dallas Fort Worth named Dr. Robert Cohen who had safely delivered over 100 placenta accreta cases.
Jess experienced her first scare at just 10 weeks when she began bleeding heavily while the family was vacationing in a small, remote town (without medical facilities) in Colorado. The best she could do was call her MFM back home who suggested she, “take it easy and let us know if anything changes and if it gets any worse, find the closest ER asap.” The closest ER that would have the resources to take her was in Denver, Colorado, over 5 hours away. Jess became consumed by fear and the vacation was a blur. All she could focus on was getting back home in search of help, and in search of someone who would listen to her when she said that she and Ryan were seeing this pregnancy through. They refused to accept any opinions or recommendations to terminate.
Ultimately, Jess’s searching led her to Dr. Cohen and his team located in Dallas, just over 2 hours away from the family farm. The couple called Dr. Cohen’s office to set up an appointment at 22 weeks. Ryan and Jess made the trek to Dallas where they met with Dr. Cohen and Bryce Sheets, the accreta coordinator.
“Dr. Cohen told us in great detail about his process, his procedure, and the timeline of events in his accreta-team-rulebook. Jess said she immediately sensed Dr. Cohen’s compassion for Jess and appreciated his willingness to hear her concerns. Dr. Cohen explained that Jess would be hospitalized at 30 weeks pregnant and would deliver at 34 weeks.
“It was the first time someone told us exactly what to expect and not a list of hypotheticals,” said Jess.
Jess said she and Ryan walked silently back to the car as reality began to sink in. In the car, the couple decided to individually write down their decision whether to switch to Dr. Cohen’s group (over two hours away from their home) or stay with the closer MFM in Fort Worth who had so far only shown cautious optimism and a “hope for the best” mentality.
“Ryan and I showed each other our notes and we had both written down Dr. Cohen’s name,” said Jess.
As sure as the couple was, Jess admittedly was apprehensive about something Dr. Cohen discussed at the appointment – so apprehensive that she decided not to cancel her referral appointment with the gynecologic oncologist at her local MFM office in Fort Worth to leave her options open in case she had a change of heart.
“Dr. Cohen kept talking about this REBOA thing that gets put into your artery to stop the blood flow. I have strong beliefs and I’m already hesitant about western medicine, so that terrified me,” said Jess.
Jess said she went back to her online searches to find out more. She read about lots of trauma cases using REBOA, some of which the patients didn’t survive. Jess said she and Ryan turned to their faith and prayed for Jesus to give them a clear sign on what to do. The next day Jess anxiously called Dr. Cohen where he explained everything top to finish for over an hour, listening patiently as Jess shared her dozens of concerns, theories and “worst case scenario.”
“Dr. Cohen explained that in most of those REBOA cases, the patients are already extremely sick and have experienced a lot of trauma. He assured us it’s not like managing a healthy pregnant patient under a controlled environment,” said Jess.
Cohen continued with details that Jess would travel to DFW every other week and meet with Cohen’s associates, Dr. Tricia Shimer and Dr. Caroline Mars for prenatal care until 30 weeks gestation.
While on the call with Dr. Cohen, she received a voicemail from the gynecological oncologist in Fort Worth randomly canceling their upcoming appointment for no apparent reason. She was told to contact the office and reschedule the appointment after the baby was born.
“That was my clear sign,” said Jess. From there she decided to switch permanently to Dr. Cohen’s team in Dallas and never looked back.
Part Two
In mid-November a storm came through and Ryan was out of town for work. Jess began bleeding and her mom and sister rushed over. Jess’ sister took Jess straight to Dr. Cohen’s office in Dallas, who was waiting for her, and Ryan made his way back home later that evening. It was after this episode when Dr. Cohen shared with Jess that the “new” plan was for her to stay in Dallas from that day on, with no return visits back home until delivery. At this time, that date was more than 2 months away.
“It was a hard one. I lost my mind,” said Jess. “Dr. Cohen said I could bleed out in six minutes and that in Texas, ambulances are required by law to take patients to the closest hospital, and I wouldn’t be able to get to MC Dallas.”
Once Jess wrapped her mind around the realization of what the next few months might look like, she packed up and moved into antepartum at MC Dallas.
“I convinced myself that God was preparing my children for me not to be with them,” said Jess. I was 100% certain I would not make it out of the hospital and my children’s last memories of me would be in that hospital.”
Being without her children didn’t sit well with Jess, so she and Ryan agreed to let the children occasionally rotate staying overnight with her in the hospital (a decision that went against hospital policy, and which later created issues between Jess, her stay, and the hospitals rules.)
The time together was the best time possible, and according to Jess, kept her from being emotionally derailed. But it was also a decision which prematurely caused an untimely A.M.A. departure from MC Dallas.
The hospital explained the risks of having a minor stay at the hospital and why it was against policy, but Jess struggled with missing her family, and after a couple of concurrent run-ins with hospital higher-ups, it was clear that Jess had to leave, even if that meant moving down the street and around the corner.
Jess said Dr. Cohen came through showing what a compassionate and reasonable man he is and agreed to allow the family to stay in a VRBO just three minutes from the hospital.
“It was the best compromise for the family, but a horrible financial decision,” recalled Jess.
The family got to enjoy three weeks in the rental, including Christmas day together. The plan was that if everything went without incident, Jess would have a scheduled delivery on January 4th.
The day after Christmas, Jess was admitted back into the antepartum wing of the hospital as previously scheduled at the time of her prior departure. She was in a better mindset, but still anxious about what was to come.
“I tried hard to hold it together for the kids. I even wrote each of them goodbye notes just in case,” said Jess.
One thing that got Jess through that last week in the hospital was her “accreta buddy,” a fellow pregnant mom with an accreta staying in the room next door. The two would walk around the hospital together and have lunch.
“She was quickly a real friend… someone who I, given the circumstances we were both in, completely related to. She was a companion and listening ear, and another young mother who was scared out of her mind who could relate to me,” said Jess.
Part Three
On January 1st, Jess’ family brought a meal to the hospital, and they all ate together as a family in the courtyard.
“It felt like a normal day with us all together. The weather was beautiful and the farm kids, who struggled with Dallas life, found themselves shoeless in the outdoor courtyard catching lizards. It was as close to feeling like home as we had experienced in weeks,” said Jess.
Around 5pm Ryan and the kids left Jess at the hospital and went back home to the farm, two hours west, leaving Jess behind on an otherwise lovely Sunday. Ryan had just gotten home when he got a panicked call from Jess saying that the baby’s heart rate was low, that “a ton of people” were suddenly in her room, including Dr. Cohen who had rushed to the hospital from his home. Dr. Cohen soon confirmed that he would need to emergently deliver the baby right away, and total mayhem for all immediately commenced.
The drive from the hospital to Millsap was just over two hours each way, so Ryan anxiously waited for his parents to arrive in order to care for the family’s other children, and immediately raced back to Dallas at record speed in order to be with Jess.
“I was freaking out trying to navigate everything on my own,” said Jess. “I was a mess that night and kept asking questions knowing I would deliver the baby on my own without Ryan there.”
Jess got her spinal epidural and just as Dr. Cohen was about to begin the c-section, Ryan walked in the room.
“I was in a complete panic. I think everyone in the room was sick of hearing me ask the same questions in a row: Where is Ryan? Am I going to be ok? What is going on? What is happening next?” recalled Jess.
Minutes later Quin Enoch Barnhart was born weighing 5 pounds, 1 ounce. Jess said she got to see his face and kiss him before he was handed over to Ryan.
The next thing Jess knew she woke up in the ICU with a tube down her throat after what was ultimately an 8-hour, complex surgery/hysterectomy. Apparently, Jess had an allergic reaction to something during the procedure, which required the breathing tube, and a cascade of complicating factors made her uterus extraction and management of blood loss unusually time-consuming.
“It was terrifying because I had restraints on and I was gagging with the tube when I woke up,” said Jess.
Jess began writing notes, never one to be silenced, asking about her baby and trying to find out what was going on.
Eventually, later that evening, the tube was removed, and Jess was moved to recover in postpartum. Jess said she got to go by and see Quin – “a perfect little baby with lots of hair,” she recalled.
After having to wait for nearly three long days for her own recovery, she became stable enough to make the journey to the NICU wing.
“I stood there for as long as I could to see him,” said Jess.
Ryan split his time visiting his wife and new baby in the hospital. On January 4th, Jess was able to hold Quin for the first time. He was finally actually here, and she was, just as Cohen promised, alive and in (mostly) one piece on the other side of this.
“I couldn’t believe that he (Quin) was actually here,” said Jess.
Jess was released from the hospital on January 5th after advocating strongly for herself, and, as usual, finding ways to get her way with those around her at the hospital, including spending the next days on a recliner in the NICU. Jess was told Quin would be released from the hospital in three to four weeks, but got a setback when Quin was struggling to gain weight.
“I was told Quin would have to stay an extra three weeks in the NICU. I was so defeated,” said Jess.
Through some donor milk, pumping around the clock, and lots prayers, Quin was able to gain weight and pass all of the required tests before the hospital would release him at just 11 days old.
“It was an amazing feeling walking out of that hospital,” said Jess. “I was shaking as we were leaving and just felt this huge rush.”
Part Four
Miracle baby Quin will be two years old on January 1st, 2025, and the family of six feels complete.
Looking back Jess admits the time she spent pregnant with Quin were some of the hardest days of her life, but so worth it in the end.
Jess says her faith and family got her through those days, and along the way she found a deeper appreciation for “being thankful”.
Jess continues to spend her days on the family farm homeschooling the couple’s four children, feeding chickens and enjoying every moment with her family. Oh, and the family just recently added to t
heir brood – a sweet Dalmatian puppy named, KC Joy, who has completely stolen their hearts.
Ryan and Jess especially, but also many of those in their extended family, have a love and appreciation for Dr. Cohen and his team, none of whom will ever be forgotten. Jess said she feels that other than the Good Lord, Cohen and his team are the sole reason she and baby Quin are home together enjoying their lives with the rest of the family.
Jess tells as many as she can about her experience and is passionate about giving other scared moms-to-be hope through experienced physicians like Dr. Cohen and the REBOA technology she ultimately came to appreciate.
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