PeekabooNWA

Our Triplet Miracle

Posted on 30. Sep, 2008 by admin in Personal Stories

The story of Jackson, Joe, and Audrey

It was the morning of July 4th, 2006. I was prepped and wheeled into surgery for an emergency c-section and I would have no memory of my three beautiful babies coming into this world, all under 2 pounds.

During our initial ultrasound to hear and see our first baby’s heartbeat, the doctor showed us the screen and said “Here is your baby & his little heart beat (short pause & scroll to the right)… and here is your other baby!” No fertility, no family history, just a simple blessing. As the reality set in so did our excitement.

Skip to 21 weeks. It was the day of the ultrasound and the plan was to take measurements and also find out what we were having. After a few moments of sliding her x-ray gadget all over my belly, the technician turned to me to say “You’re having twins, right?” Then a few more moments pass by before she turned again to say “Honey, you’ve got three in there!” Our “simple blessing” had just turned into a scary mess and we were both completely overwhelmed. After all, there are only two of us, how are we supposed to handle three little babies.

As we shared the news with friends and family, this time around we received less “how wonderfuls” and a lot more “how are you going to fit three babies in there?” Despite our own concerns and those of basically everyone else we shared with, excitement set in. We were having 2 boys and a girl, a perfect mix, and we had names picked out and nursery plans ready within a couple of weeks. We decided to get a jump on their room and began painting with plenty of time to finish, after all we still had about three months until Jackson, Joe and Audrey entered our lives…
right?

Wrong.
At 24 weeks my water broke. Excitement melted into chaos and our hopes gave way to fear. Our doctors said they would do everything possible to keep our babies inside mommy’s belly where they belonged to be for the next 14 weeks. We would not make it that long but every extra minute was critical.

July 4th, 26 weeks. God not only gave two extra weeks for our babies health but gave us time with my Dad. He was receiving treatment in the same hospital in Little Rock for a rare bone marrow disease. Imagine me, three premature babies and their grandfather all in the same hospital on the same day. Dad would pass away shortly after but not before seeing his three grandbabies first; something he would not have done if we had not been placed in Little Rock. Having those last weeks with my Dad was a blessing and brings so many memories and tears.

July 4th, 2008. The “Fordlets” as we have nicknamed them turned 2! We have been through some tough times. Three exhausting months of having three preemie babies in the NICU. We almost lost Audrey in the hospital when an infection shut down her kidneys. That led to a brain injury and the diagnosis of cerebral palsy for Audrey. She is such a little miracle to us and we can’t imagine life without her beautiful smile and laughter! We also found out at 15 months of age that Jackson was deaf. He is now hearing with the help of a medical miracle called Cochlear Implants and is learning to talk and quickly catching up with brother Joe. We are stronger today because of these challenges. I hear people say they are blessed because they have healthy children; we are blessed because of what we went through and the perspective we have gained. Most of all we are blessed to have these three little miracles in our life