From 'Perfect Pregnancy' to 12 Surgeries: Bethany Gurbal's Fight for Her Son's Life

What happens when a healthy pregnancy suddenly turns into a medical nightmare no one saw coming? In this powerful episode of the Moms Like Me podcast, host Jordan Arogeti sits down with Bethany Gurbal to share the emotional, raw, and ultimately hope-filled story of her son John. After a routine pregnancy filled with reassuring weekly ultrasounds, Bethany and her husband were blindsided. Born at 35½ weeks, John initially seemed small but stable—until doctors discovered a rare condition called piriform aperture stenosis, a severe nasal obstruction that made it nearly impossible for him to breathe. What followed was months in and out of the NICU and PICU, feeding tubes, life-threatening respiratory distress, and more than a dozen surgeries in his first year of life. Bethany shares what it was like to go from hearing 'everything looks perfect' at every appointment to facing the possibility of devastating brain complications and even losing her newborn. She opens up about the financial stress of losing health insurance late in pregnancy, the trauma of watching her baby struggle to breathe, and the emotional toll of balancing hospital life with caring for a toddler at home. But this episode isn't only about medical crisis. It's about marriage strengthened under pressure, community showing up in extraordinary ways, and the courage it takes to ask for help—especially when you're used to doing it all yourself. Bethany also shares how documenting John's journey became both a lifeline and a legacy. If you're a parent navigating uncertainty, a mom who feels like she has to hold everything together, or someone walking through a hard season you never planned for, this conversation will remind you that you are not alone.