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05/25/2016 08:30 AMWhen Christina Federico was seven months pregnant in 2013, she woke up with a terrible ear infection. Not one to rush off to the doctor, her mother suggested she at least visit her obstetrician to check on the baby.
Christina’s vitals were inconsistent and her doctor suggested she visit the walk-in clinic for a flu test. The walk-in clinic didn’t have the right test and sent her to the Guilford urgent care facility.
“It was rainy, I was tired, and I didn’t want to go, but my mom picked me up and brought me,” says Christina. “Including the waiting, I was only there about an hour before they said, ‘We need to rush you to Yale intensive care.’ It was surreal.”
Christina realized her breathing was becoming very labored. Once she arrived at Yale, she was under 24-hour care. Doctors tried to help with her breathing with an air tube in her nose and when that didn’t help, they tried an oxygen mask.
“Intubation was the last choice and it was a risk they had to take,” says Christina. “Within 24 hours, I was intubated, on a feeding machine, and had a breathing tube. Everything we do every day without thinking was taken away from me in 24 hours.”
Christina was diagnosed with acute respiratory distress syndrome. Because of her condition and the danger to her baby, the doctors offered Christina a steroid shot to help develop her baby’s lungs. While the shot could help her baby’s lungs, it was a risk to Christina.
“My mom looked at the doctor and said, ‘I need you do everything you can to save my daughter,’ but then I looked at the doctor and said, ‘You have to do everything you can do to save my daughter,’” says Christina. “My mom was clinging to me, but I didn’t want to lose my baby.”
After weighing the risks, Christina chose to get the shot. Doctors warned her that her condition would worsen and her lungs quickly filled with water.
“Everyone kept coming in to say goodbye and the odds were against me,” says Christina. “I always put my daughter and her health first, but my mom was doing it for me.”
Throughout her time in the ICU, she was unable to speak due to the intubation and she used a notebook and a pen to communicate with her doctors and her family, as well as express her concerns and her feelings. Against the odds, during her 21 days in intensive care, Christina’s condition began to improve.
“The doctors said they’ve never seen a recovery from my condition ever in all their years of work,” says Christina. “But I never thought I was going to die. I was always positive and always had hope. I always knew my daughter was going to be okay. I was peaceful, serene, and calm and the doctors said that’s what saved me.”
Once well enough, she was moved the maternal care unit where doctors continued to monitor her unborn baby. Christina was soon discharged with strict bedrest orders.
As a dance instructor and an active person, it was difficult for Christina to comply, but she continued to do what was best for her daughter. A day before her due date, Christina delivered a healthy 7-pound, 11-ounce baby girl she named Rosalia.
“As a new mom who had gone through traumatic experience, I knew I cannot let it define me,” says Christina. “I made several changes and things that used to be important to me weren’t anymore.”
Some changes were hard, including a divorce, and Christina and Rosalia moved back to her parents’ house in North Haven. She is thankful for her parents’ help and happy to be close to family, including her sister and cousins and their children.
Unsure of how to support her new family, but knowing she wanted to do something to build girls’ confidence, she started her own business, Royal Rose Boutique, an online clothing and accessory store. Rosalia, who will be three in July, helps Christina package orders and models outfits.
“I want to teach these little girls that they’re beautiful no matter what they wear,” says Christina, who also hosts a fashion show featuring girls each winter and hopes to one day house her business in its own storefront. “I looked at my little girl who has the world at her fingertips and just wanted to be a positive influence on her life.”
In addition to being a positive influence through the clothing lines she offers, Christina went back to her job as a dance instructor at Performing Arts Studio Be in North Haven where she enjoys working with the students.
“I’m just so blessed to have these outlets—my daughter, my business, and dance and my students,” says Christina. “If I can influence lives in any way, I feel like I did something.”
Christina also hopes to inspire positivity in others by sharing her story. Doctors found her recovery so remarkable that Yale made a documentary of Christina’s journey.
“I don’t know why it happened, but I’m meant to teach and show other people that life will knock you down, it will hurt you, and you may feel like you aren’t able to get through the next day, but you can,” says Christina. “Now Rosalia will be three in July and every year that goes by, I’m just so happy and excited that my little miracle girl is here. She’s a blessing and she lights up a room.”