Yulia Nurikyan and her newborn daughter, Livia, are at home and lucky to be alive.
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Baby Livia came two weeks early because doctors at Elmhurst Hospital realized the mother had another serious medical issue.
They did an emergency C-section and within hours sent her to Mount Sinai for life-saving heart surgery.
"Now I feel awesome, now I have my baby -- I dreamt of that moment that me and my husband would come home," Nurikyan said.
Nurikyan had the same heart issue that killed her father, and there are no symptoms.
Dr. Ismail El-Hamamsy of Mount Sinai Hospital, said that Nurikyan's aorta was huge.
The new mom was very lucky.
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Fortunately, her husband was there to call 911 when she collapsed at home, and Dr. El-Hamamsy, who just started working at Mount Sinai weeks ago, was there to perform surgery.
His specialty? The exact heart surgery Nurikyan needed.
Now, both mother and baby are together and doing well, after spending a week apart in separate hospitals.
It also turns out mom's happy attitude is great medicine.
"100 percent the mind body connection you cannot underestimate, half the recovery is in the head," Dr. El-Hamamsy said.
Nurikyan says someone is watching over them. Hopefully for years to come.