My Sister’s NICU Story

Today I am sharing a story with you that you haven’t really heard me talk much about because it is not my story to tell. This year, my sister has been on the wildest ride of her life – giving birth to twins one day shy of 25 weeks gestation. It has been an emotional and long road for her, but it has also been a road of triumph. I asked her to guest post today to share her story, and she said this month was a great month to share it because September is NICU Awareness Month.

Words cannot express how strong my sister, Christine, and her husband are. And, of course, the miracles that are their babies. Let’s just let her get to it and share her NICU story.

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At my 21 week check up with the high-risk doctor, he found my cervix had already opened to 2 cm. He told me I am past the point where I could get a cerclage so I had to leave immediately and check into the hospital and stay on complete bed rest until I had the babies. This was beginning of January and I wasn’t due until May! My whole world changed in an instant, as now my “home” is the hospital. Bed rest sounds great, but it is horrible! I couldn’t even use the bathroom in my room. I couldn’t take a shower – they had to give me bed baths and wash my hair in bed.

Apparently, I was having Braxton Hicks contractions and I didn’t even know it. I just thought it was the babies moving. So every 12 hours I had to be hooked up to the contraction and the baby heartbeat monitors.

On the third week of bed rest, I woke up with the contractions feeling different. They were lower and in front and just felt like a period cramp. They also were coming every 10 minutes. So I drank some extra water and took a nap and they then spread out to 15 minutes apart so the nurse told me to keep drinking water and trying to sleep as much as possible. Very difficult because once you’re on bed rest you aren’t tired! Had my lunch, drank more water, took a nap, then the contractions came every 5 minutes.

The nurse walked in and I was crying knowing something was wrong. I told her to call my doctor. My OB came in 10 minutes later to “check” me and I was 8 cm dilated and she told me the babies had to come out right away because baby A’s sack was starting to come out. My whole world changed again in an instant. I broke down just repeating ‘no’ over and over again. I was only 24 weeks 6 days gestation. I tried calling my husband because he was at work and as soon as he answered I couldn’t talk because I was crying too hard. My OB grabbed the phone and told him to leave work right away because we were having the babies. She said we can only wait so long for him, but as soon as I’m prepped in the OR, they will have to begin.

Urgency commenced- it felt like every nurse and doctor in that hospital came in and out of my room getting me ready for the c-section. They got me into the OR and got me prepped and my husband walked in just in time and they began! I remember not wanting to think about my situation so I told my husband to just talk to me so I asked him about his day and what he had to eat.

The nurse told him to stand up to take photos because they were coming. He said, “no thanks. ” lol and the nurse said, “no, you will want to see this” so my husband stood up and took photos. Baby A came out first – Sofia – 1 pound 11 ounces. Baby B was next – Luke – 1 pound 10 ounces. This was no typical c-section you hear about. They didn’t lay the babies on me. I didn’t get to hold or kiss them. As soon as one came out the nurse has to run to the hallway where the NICU was waiting to intubate and do everything needed. On the way out, the nurse stopped in front of me for 1 second to at least see each baby.

They let my husband follow the babies while they sewed me up. Then I was in the recovery room. I wasn’t in pain, I was just crying wondering if they are alive. They came in and said they will bring each one by once they are cleaned and stable. They first brought Sofia to me. I have never seen a baby this tiny in my life. they tell me I cannot rub her. Their skin is so paper thin that if I rub the skin it will tear. So I reach my finger in and she immediately grabs on strong to my finger. Cue the tears.

They take Sofia away and then bring Luke by and same thing. I reach in and he grabs my finger. Then he is whisked away to the NICU and I am finally taken back to my regular room.

First time visiting the Level 3 NICU the next day was obviously a lot to take in. They had them in different pods of the NICU. So many babies, so many alarms, so much going on. Seeing them laying there so tiny, so helpless, literally fighting for their lives is so hard to see. The NICU experience is no joke. It is the hardest, scariest, saddest, happiest thing anyone can ever go through. When you hear that the NICU is a rollercoaster, that is 100% accurate.

There are good days and bad bays. Countless phone calls throughout the day and night. When they called, it was bad news. So I cringed every time I saw the phone number pop up. There were times when they called for the daily update and they had good news, but most of the time it seemed like they only called with bad news.

After 15 days of life, I was FINALLY able to hold Luke for the first time. The human body is incredible. As soon as I held him for the first time, my body finally relaxed and “melted”. I felt like I could have fallen asleep my body was so relaxed. It’s amazing how my body knew that this little thing was my baby. My husband was able to hold him for the first time the following day.

Sofia had more lung issues, one of her lungs collapsed twice. So she was on the ventilator for a long time. The first time I FINALLY was able to hold her was a month later. Same thing happened to my body, I immediately relaxed. My husband was able to hold her the following day.

We had to move Luke to Children’s Memorial Hermann due to a grade 4 brain bleed and hydrocephalus. They had to do a brain surgery right away. He ended up having 3 different surgeries to get everything under control. We kept Sofia at Texas Woman’s because she wasn’t stable enough and we didn’t want to stress her out for no reason. So we had them at two hospitals for 3 months. We still made a visit to both babies and both hospitals every day. It was more difficult, but we made it work. Thankfully we live close to the medical center!

3 months later, we moved Sofia to where Luke was and they had their own private room together in the NICU. That was the first time I was able to touch both babies at the same time. The feeling was incredible. To finally have both babies next to each other was amazing.

After 109 days, Sofia was discharged from the hospital. After 148 days, Luke was discharged from the hospital. When we brought Luke home, that was the first time we were finally able to hold both babies at the same time and it was perfect.

148 days in the NICU. Countless blood tests, x-rays, ultrasounds, MRI’s, procedures, eye exams. Numerous phone calls good and bad. Emotions up and down, good days and bad days. These babies are resilient. The NICU experience is one of the hardest things anyone can go through, but it is a rewarding experience. You celebrate every little milestone. You celebrate every gram gained, every poopy diaper, every mL eaten, every notch weaned on oxygen support, the first time they were able to wear clothes, moved to an open crib, started eating on a bottle, and the list goes on and on.

The incredible thing about the NICU is the strength. The strength of the nurses and doctors to care for your children 24/7. Some nurses and doctors become like family. It truly takes an amazing person to be a NICU nurse and doctor.

The strength I grew as a person and as a couple with my husband is outstanding. We still have a long road ahead of us, but we are very lucky to have our miracle babies. These babies, who by the way, are the strongest fighters we know.

Outits: Just Born Baby (c/o)

Stroller: Maxi Cosi Dana For 2 – aka the best double stroller for these twins! (c/o)

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Support NICU Awareness

In honor of NICU Awareness Month, we encourage you to reach out to your local hospitals to see how you can get involved. There are so many families going through situations just like Christine’s. Getting involved with your local NICU can make a huge difference – no matter how big or small. Also, if you are a nursing mom, consider donating breastmilk.

A huge thank you to Christine for sharing her amazing story. I know it was hard for her to rehash those emotions as she wrote it. As her sister, it was really tough to see her go through such a rollercoaster. I felt helpless! There is hardly anything you can physically do for someone going through something like this. Emotional support means so much, even if it’s just small talk. I tell you what, though. Christine is one of the strongest people I know, and this experience has made her darn near invincible.

If you are a NICU parent and just need someone to talk to, please feel free to reach out to me and I can get you in touch with my sister.