BOSTON -- A Boston woman who defied the medical odds against her to live long enough to see her baby born lost her battle with cancer Saturday.

Trinidad, who did not want her last name used, found out she had terminal cancer shortly after she discovered she was pregnant.

"For me, giving birth to this baby means a lot because despite struggling with death I am giving him life," Trinidad said last month, explaining her determination to survive long enough to meet her child.

Last fall shortly after she learned she was pregnant, Trinidad went to the doctor because she was having difficulty breathing. She suspected doctors would tell her she had asthma, but instead she learned cancer had spread throughout her body, including her lungs.

Doctors told her she would live only a few months, and advised her to terminate the pregnancy to focus on cancer treatment. But Trinidad refused, and instead chose to receive comprehensive medical care at Boston Medical Center.

At her request, oncologists administered lower-than-usual doses of chemotherapy, with the goal of keeping her cancer at bay until she delivered her child.

After spending five months at BMC, Trinidad delivered a healthy baby boy via Caesarean section.

"Both of us survived a lot of risk and that is very meaningful to me," she said.

During her months at Boston Medical Center, Trinidad recorded an audio diary, memorializing her hopes and dreams, that her son will be able to listen to for years to come.

"I want my baby to know that I love him more than my own life and that's the reason why I have decided for him to be born."