Little Charlotte Marie Gianetta was born prematurely, weighing in at only 1 lb 7oz. But she might not have been born at all if it wasn’t for the heroic efforts of her family’s golden doodle mix Louie, a rambunctious pup who went from being “in the doghouse for scratching his “mom’s” face to saving her life in a matter of hours.
Janelle Gianetta, 26 weeks pregnant, was not feeling well and went to lie down while her husband Richard straightened up the house for a family party planned Saturday night to celebrate her 28th birthday. A short time later, Louie began to bark incessantly, and when Richard went to investigate, he found the 75 lb dog standing on the bed trying to rouse his wife, who was in the throes of a seizure; tongue rolled back and foaming at the mouth.
Janelle, a fourth-grade special-ed teacher in Oceanside, NY was rushed to Nassau University Medical Center in East Meadow, where she was diagnosed with eclampsia, a deadly condition in which the mother develops extremely high blood pressure, causing seizures and potentially a stroke.
The decision was made to perform a C-section and Charlotte Marie was born at 2:25am. As of yesterday, her mom is doing well, and she was in neonatal intensive care, where she is expected to stay until her original due date sometime in July.
While Richard, who works for the LI Railroad, praised the quick action of EMTs who responded to his 911 call, Dr. Peter Hong, chief of NUMC’s high-risk pregnancy service praised Louie.
“In my opinion, the dog is the real hero,” he said. “If not for his barking, Mrs. Gianetta could have had one seizure after another, after another.”
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