Tomball mom forgets giving birth to triplets after being declared 'clinically dead' during delivery

TOMBALL, Texas (KTRK) -- With four kids under the age of five, it's fair to say life is somewhat like organized chaos for Marisa and Dylan Christie.

Tucked away in her home just northwest of Houston with her husband and children is Marisa's favorite place to be.

"I try to remind myself in those hard moments I'm like, 'I almost missed all of it,' so it kind of puts it in perspective," she said.

After giving birth to the couple's triplet girls in late August at Memorial Hermann The Woodlands Medical Center North, Marisa flatlined at multiple points in a 45-minute time span.

"It was the toughest moment of my life going from the most beautiful experience in seeing our baby girls for the first time to, 'Oh my gosh my wife is ... they're doing CPR on her,'" Dylan said.

According to Marisa's maternal-fetal medicine physician Dr. Amber Samuel, the mother survived an extremely rare post-birth complication called amniotic fluid embolism. This occurs during labor or delivery when amniotic fluid enters the mother's bloodstream and can cause a severe allergic reaction.

In Marisa's case, it led her husband to make the call for her to get a life-saving hysterectomy.

When she woke up, she had no knowledge of giving birth.

"My family took lots of photos and videos of me when I was in the hospital, which helped a lot to be able to kind of have reality hit," Marisa said.

The mother had to re-learn how to walk. Soon enough, she was able to stroll through the halls with her girls, celebrating their release from the NICU.

She gives all the praise to the doctors and staff for never leaving her side.

"I don't think I would have been alive if I had not been at that hospital," Marisa said.