When Gail Mulligan and her husband, Matthew, decided they wanted a third child, they knew it wouldn’t be easy. At 43, Gail faced the challenges of advanced maternal age, and after two miscarriages, the couple turned to IVF therapy. Four rounds of egg retrievals later, they had one viable embryo—and that embryo became Ethan, now a healthy 11-month-old boy.
Gail’s pregnancy was closely monitored by her care team, including Nagaeda Jean, M.D., Myriam Langer, M.D., and Sonata Cooper, M.D. While her blood pressure was managed throughout most of the pregnancy, things changed suddenly one November morning. Gail woke up with severe swelling on the left side of her face and a blood pressure reading that was alarmingly high. She called the on-call physician, who urged her to come to Pascack Valley Medical Center immediately.
“I wasn’t expecting to have the baby that day,” Gail recalls. “His due date was December 13, and my C-section was scheduled for December 2. But when I got to the hospital, they said, ‘We’re going to have this baby today.’”
Unexpected C-section
Ethan was delivered via C-section on November 24. The delivery went smoothly, but Gail’s journey wasn’t over. Just days after being discharged, she returned to the hospital with dangerously high blood pressure — a complication of pre-eclampsia. “It was so high that my doctor couldn’t believe I had walked into her office,” Gail says. She spent three days in the labor and delivery unit, where the nurses and doctors stabilized her condition.
What stands out most to Gail is the compassion and dedication of the Pascack Valley team. “The nurses were incredible,” she says. “They weren’t just doing their jobs—they cared about me as a person. One nurse even requested to be assigned to me again the next day because she wanted to make sure I was okay. They talked to me, reassured me, and reminded me that I’d get through this.”
Gail also credits her cardiologist, Harmony Leighton-Seiffer, M.D., for helping her navigate recovery and sharing her own experience with preeclampsia. “It meant so much to hear from another mom who understood what I was going through,” Gail says.
Active lifestyle
Today, Gail is healthy and back to her active lifestyle. She and Matthew are enjoying life with their three boys—Andrew, 9; Colin, 5; and Ethan—and planning their next family trip. Gail is even training to run a couple of half-marathons next year.
“I’m generally a healthy person, and this experience reminded me how strong I can be,” she says. “I’m so grateful to the doctors, nurses, and staff at Pascack Valley Medical Center. They gave me my son and helped me heal.”
Pascack Valley Medical Center’s labor & delivery services provide comprehensive care for expectant mothers during childbirth, including prenatal care, pain management, delivery, and postpartum support to ensure the health and well-being of both mother and baby. For more information, visit our website.