"I don’t like to think about how different our story would have been if I was not already at the hospital."
Premature babies come into this world fighting for their lives. I am so thankful mine had the team at Monmouth Medical Center fighting along with them.
Prematurity is not always pretty. But, from that first moment, we knew our daughters were a beautiful miracle. At just over 1 pound each, with so many tubes and devices attached to them, holding our newborn twins and spending time with them was sometimes overwhelming. Watching them progress from tiny, fragile infants to active toddlers has been an amazing journey.
Charlie and Jorgia were considered high risk from the start and they are with us today, growing and thriving, thanks to Monmouth Medical Center. Our journey through the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) began on October 8, 2013.
I was pregnant with very rare identical twin girls. My babies were Monoamniotic/Monochorionic, about 1% of all twin pregnancies. This means they shared a sac with no membrane separating them from each other in the womb. The rate of mortality is high due to the risk of them entangling each-other in the umbilical cord.
The babies’ heartbeats were being monitored at Monmouth Medical Center when, at just 24 weeks and 2 days, I began to hemorrhage. I was rushed to the operating room for an emergency C-section and an emergency hysterectomy. I don’t like to think about how different our story would have been if I was not already at the hospital.
When I woke up from anesthesia I thought surely these babies could not have survived- they were not ready yet. But I was very wrong.
Charlie weighed just 1 lb 2 oz (525 grams) and Jorgia was just 1 lb 5 oz (585 grams). They went on to spend the next four months in the NICU until just a few days after my due date, when they were ready to come home.
The NICU at Monmouth Medical Center became our second home. The doctors and nurses that cared for our babies became family. The entire team worked together to provide a safe, loving and welcoming home for all of us, including our oldest daughter Joey who was five-years-old at the time.
We always knew we were in the best hands possible at Monmouth Medical Center. We still feel that way over two years later.
I can honestly say, as a registered nurse for almost 20 years, every single person we encountered - doctors, nurses and therapists - were always kind and caring. The nurses are some of the best trained I've ever met. The unit is so bright and welcoming. It may not seem like much, but when you are going through the darkest time in your life, it truly does make a difference.
We are so grateful we have a state-of-the-art NICU just a few miles from our home and it means so much to know Monmouth Medical Center is ready to provide a "home away from home" for families with babies that need intensive care at birth.