Mom Spent 6 Days in Coma After Welcoming Triplets, Then Couldn't Remember Why She Wasn't Pregnant. How She's Healed

• Moments after Marisa Christie gave birth to three healthy baby girls last year, she experienced a rare and life-threatening complication and was put into a medically induced coma

• When she woke up six days later, Marisa tells PEOPLE she had no memory of giving birth, and even initially thought she had been in "a car accident or something," which seemed like the "only reasonable for why I was not pregnant anymore"

• Although she says that "some days are harder than others," Marisa is now doing okay — and is extremely grateful for all the doctors, family and friends who stepped up in her family's time of need

For months after Marisa Christie and her husband Dylan learned they were expecting triplets, her husband felt jittery at the thought of juggling three infants in addition to their son Grayson, 4.

"I was like, oh my gosh, this is actually happening," Dylan, 30, of Tomball, Texas, tells PEOPLE. "When we got closer I calmed down a little bit. It's one of those things where you can't fully prepare."

On the morning of Aug. 21, 2024, when Marisa, 30, gave birth to healthy baby girls Charlotte, Kendall and Collins at Memorial Hermann the Woodlands Medical Center via a planned cesarean section, Dylan finally relaxed. 

"I kissed Marisa and told her how proud I was of her," he recalls. "The doctors and nurses were congratulating us, we were sharing this beautiful moment together, and one of the nurses said, 'Dad, take pictures of the girls.' "

But the photo would never happen.

Within seconds, "Marisa kind of came up off the bed, both of her arms raised, and she made a noise, her vital signs and everything became deeply abnormal," says Dr. Amber Samuel, Marisa's maternal fetal physician and medical director of Obstetrix Maternal-Fetal Medicine Specialists of Houston.

"She wasn't breathing," adds Samuel, "and didn't have a heartbeat. That was the moment that we declared this is an AFE (amniotic fluid embolism), because nothing else really looks like that."

Related: Mom Forgets Giving Birth to Triplets After Being Declared 'Clinically Dead' for 45 Minutes Following Cesarean

An extremely rare complication, it affects 1 in every 40,000 deliveries, and occurs during delivery or shortly after giving birth, when amniotic fluid enters a mother's bloodstream just before, during or immediately after childbirth, according to the Cleveland Clinic.

Additionally, AFE has a death rate as high as 80 percent, Samuel says. "We don't know why it happens," the doctor adds. "No one's actually ever figured it out,"

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For the next 45 minutes, the medical team began performing chest compressions — and Marisa flatlined several times. For Dylan, who could only look on in fear, it was "definitely the scariest moment of my life."

Doctors eventually put Marisa on a form of life support called extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO), which pumped her blood into a heart-lung machine to keep her alive. As Today previously reported, due to uncontrolled hemorrhaging, she also underwent a lifesaving hysterectomy.

Still, no one knew if she'd survive. And if she did, would her brain have full function?

"I couldn't sleep for weeks," her doctor tells PEOPLE. "I'm sure her husband probably couldn't sleep either." 

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When Marisa awoke from a medically-induced coma six days after giving birth, she had no memory of the delivery. "I remember waking up and having Dylan there and him telling me that the girls are fine, they're here," Marisa tells PEOPLE.

"I actually thought that I'd been in a car accident or something. That was the only reasonable explanation for why I was not pregnant anymore," she says. "I thought I was in a dream for a while. It was terrifying."

After two weeks in the hospital, a weakened Marisa slowly walked out to the cheers of the hospital staff. But her prognosis remained uncertain in the days and weeks that followed.

“We didn't know if there was brain damage, but as things went on, it was answered prayer after answered prayer, and relief that she was slowly coming back," adds Dylan.

Related: Baby Named 'Miracle' Goes Home After 4 Months in NICU as Mom Calls Her 'My Bundle of Joy'

Marisa is now "doing really well, fully recovered as much as you can recover from a trauma like that," according to her doctor, adding, "I think she's back to normal."

Throughout their lengthy hospital stay, Marisa says friends from church — the couple are active members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints — as well as their extended family were all there to help care for the couple's 4-year-old son Grayson. "Our entire church community has been probably the biggest saving grace," she says. "We have a great village here."

Dylan's parents, who live nearby, and close friends continue to provide support, including daily visits to care for the triplets from 8 pm to midnight, which gives the couple "a guaranteed four hours" to sleep, according to Marisa.

Marisa, a devotee of weight training, can now pick up her children and has returned to her gym — which offers childcare — several times a week, the triplets always in tow.

"They're of course already very popular there," she says. "Everyone gets excited when the triplets come down the hall."

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However, the mental recovery from the birth has proved more difficult at times. "I was kind of ignorant of what could happen before," Marisa says. "And now there's not a day that goes by that I don't think about my time in the hospital, that I don't think about my AFE."

When Marisa has returned to the hospital for visits, certain noises and smells, such as beeping monitors and hand sanitizer, can trigger her anxiety. "Some days are harder than others. But right now I'm doing okay," she shares.

Related: Mom Welcomes Fourth Baby — Who Shares the Same Birthday with Her 3 Big Sisters: ‘Blows My Mind’ (Exclusive)

Marisa finds it difficult to put into words her gratitude for the doctors and hospital staff who saved her life. "If it wasn't for them," she says, "I don't think i would be alive today, the hospital staff was so compassionate, we felt loved there."

Several days before Christmas, Marisa and Dylan held a baby blessing at their church for the triplets, surrounded by aunts, uncles, parents, grandparents, siblings and their many church friends.

"This was a very sweet Christmas because I was almost not here for it," Marisa says. "I'm very grateful for that. It's been very nice to be here for the holidays."

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