Sage and Harper

At only 3 months postpartum, we found out we were expecting once again. An early scan confirmed that we were expecting identical twin boys. We were nervous but so very excited. At our 20 week anatomy scan, the doctors told us that Harper was not growing properly due to a problem with my placenta. He was diagnosed with a severe intrauterine growth restriction, meaning he wasn’t able to receive the nutrients and oxygen he needed to grow and thrive. After months of many appointments and tests, doctors decided that I needed to be admitted to the hospital for constant monitoring in order to keep a close eye on Harper and give him a better chance of survival. It was extremely difficult being away from home for so long. On 12/23, after an ultrasound, at only 28 weeks the doctors came into my hospital room and said we needed to do an emergency c section to give Harper a shot at survival. He was no longer safe in mommy’s belly. Harper was so small at less than one pound, and Sage was double his size at 2. Both babies went straight to the NICU. After 5 days of complications, Harper’s tiny body gave out due to his lungs and heart not functioning properly due to his condition. This has been absolutely devastating for our family, but we continue to stay strong for the rest of our children. Sage is continuing his journey at a hospital that isn’t the closest to us, so it’s difficult to spend as much time as we would like with him. He needs to be at a level 3 nicu due to him not breathing on his own at this time, so we are limited with where he can be admitted. He still has a while to go with many obstacles to conquer before he can make it home. We are looking to transfer him to a hospital closer to home to ensure that we can spend more time with Sage. Financially, this has been a huge hardship on our family, and we are unable to have Sage transferred due to the cost of the transport. This combined with medical costs, me being out of work, and gas expenses to and from the NICU, we are struggling financially. We are not typically the people to ask for anything, but we want to do what’s best for our surviving twin. He has a long road in the NICU, and we want to help him in any way. Any donation helps us during this tough time.