BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (WBRC) - It is always the right time for a baby, but for the Neases, the timing was perfect.

Heidi and Cody Neas were already parents to a little girl, Grace, when they learned in the summer of 2024 they would have another baby.

During her second appointment, Heidi was offered an optional genetic test called noninvasive prenatal testing (NIPT). This blood screening analyzes fragments of DNA from the placenta to look for chromosomal abnormalities.

Heidi got a call a week after her test.

“Something’s wrong,” she said, fighting back tears.

“I was out on a work trip,” Cody said. “And she called me just, you know, beside herself. And we went through several weeks thinking, you know, we had a problem with baby.”

Family history provides critical clue

NIPT is designed to detect potential disorders for the baby, but in rare cases, it points to maternal cancer.

With Abram developing normally, the attention shifted to Heidi, and she was referred to UAB to work with genetic counselor Olivia Kesler and maternal-fetal medicine physician Dr. Carolyn Webster.

“We just wanted answers,” said Heidi.

“We went through all of her medical history, her blood work, she was up to date on all of her routine screenings so nothing stood out,” said Dr. Webster.

Kessler got to work analyzing Heidi’s family medical history.

“I think most people have heard that knowing all that you can about your family medical history is important, but this case is very unique in that it is the one thing we had to go on and the one thing that guided next steps in her care,” Kesler said.

That one significant clue was that Heidi’s father had kidney cancer in his 60s.

“At that point, we decided to offer her a look at her kidneys with ultrasound. This is not a typical part of an obstetric ultrasound for any woman,” Webster said. “I just couldn’t shake the feeling that we needed to take a look.”

“I mean, I’m not skilled to look at a ultrasound by any means, but I couldn’t miss it,” Heidi said.

The next steps happened quickly, Dr. Webster said.

Heidi was scheduled for formal imaging later that day, which confirmed the mass.

At 15 weeks pregnant, she was diagnosed with cancer.

“My faith, that’s it,” Heidi said. “Having to, one person is not meant to carry that or carry that alone. So, a lot of prayer, a lot of trusting that there’s nothing, absolutely nothing we can do, and it’s all in His hands.”

“We went through several weeks of figuring out how we were going to address it,” Cody said. “It was a very hard spot to be in, you know, but I think one of them kind of made the comment as, as pregnant as she was, you could be picking between him or her or both, it was a very tough situation for everybody.”

Dr. Webster worked with oncologist Dr. Charles Peyton to develop a treatment plan.

“Usually, the first thing that I ask when I am talking to a doctor caring for a high-risk condition in a woman who happens to be pregnant is asking them, What would you do if she wasn’t pregnant? And we start from there,” Dr. Webster said. “If we can safely do that, we go with that route. If we feel like it’s too high risk, we alter it.”

Dr. Webster continued, “For Heidi in particular, usually the mass would have been removed through a smaller incision, or laparoscopically, but in her case, it was actually safer for them to do a larger incision. So, it resulted in a little bit more time in recovery, but they were able to safely avoid her uterus and avoid any dangers to baby.”

Doctors performed an open nephrectomy and removed all traces of the disease.

“I do remember the first thing I said when I came out of the surgery, I was groggy, but I was still, I was still pretty with it,” Heidi said. “Do we have a heartbeat?”

It was strong and steady. “145. I’ll never forget it,” she said.

Recovery took weeks, and as Heidi healed, Abram grew stronger.

At 37 weeks, she delivered a perfectly healthy baby as a perfectly healthy mom.

“When he finally got here, oh, I just, just absolutely relief. I’m just amazed and grateful and thankful,” Heidi said.

“So many times I think God hands a difficult circumstance and life gives us a lot of options to get around it,” Cody said. “But sometimes if you just, if you’ll chart a straight course through it and trust Him, there’ll be a better story than you could ever thought about on the end of it.”

Rare but lifesaving detection

The National Institutes of Health launched a study in 2019 to investigate the link between abnormal noninvasive prenatal testing results and cancer.

Researchers looked at 100 women who had irregular results and healthy babies, like Heidi, and found nearly half of the women had cancer.

“Ultimately, I don’t know how long this mass had been there, but it was not causing her any symptoms, so it’s quite possible that the mass could have gone undetected far beyond her pregnancy,” Webster said. “That is something that she and I and the genetic counselor kind of talked about, did not just this test save her life, but ultimately, her baby being part of her story, she would never even had the test if she weren’t pregnant. So I know that is something that she cherishes, that having this baby ultimately led to her timely diagnosis.”

Heidi returns to UAB every four months for scans to ensure the cancer has not returned. She did not require chemotherapy or radiation.

“We have looked where God has brought us, look where we’re at, and waking up each day with a grateful heart,” she said.

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