Support for Becca, Jeff and Baby Elliott

We found out I was pregnant in mid-June. After four cycles of IVF and years of other infertility treatments and tests, we were over the moon. At our first ultrasound appointment to confirm pregnancy, we found out we were having twins. We had known it was a possibility and I had joked from the beginning that I would be the one who has twins. But twins also means high risk. Over the summer I had a few episodes of pregnancy related complications- sub chorionic hematoma and chronic placental abruption and finally what they call “ruptured membranes”.

On November 1st I woke up and something wasn’t right. I called the Dr and the nurse told me to immediately go to the Emergency room. I was there for 20ish minutes before I heard people in the hall talking about needing a MedFlight. “That’s unfortunate,” I thought to myself. I didn’t realize it was for me. I was quickly transported by helicopter (it was very windy that day!) to Brigham and Women’s hospital in Boston. The twins gestational age at this point was 24 weeks and 5 days. They confirmed that on Twin A the amniotic sac had ruptured, essentially my water had broken. I showed no signs of preterm labor at that point and was moved from the labor floor to the antenatal floor for monitoring. I remained on bed rest and monitoring for nearly a month.

On November 24th I started noticing signs of labor. I started tracking contractions and alerted a nurse. I was transferred back to the labor floor where everything worsened over the next 36 hours. They tried to slow down labor by giving me magnesium, it helped with the pain a little bit but things were still moving forward. Around midnight on the 26th I was 4cm dilated and the decision to start a c-section was made. At 12:34 and 12:35 I gave birth to two sons. Dylan Toby LaMarche (2lbs 8oz) and Elliott Richard LaMarche (2lbs 4oz.) I heard them both cry. Their gestational age at birth was 28 weeks 2 days. They were quickly taken to the NICU.

Then everything changed. I woke up 5 hours later to the NICU doctors in my room telling me I should come down. They wheeled me down in a stretcher and held me in Elliott’s room as I watched about a dozen nurses and doctors work on Dylan. His lungs had collapsed. He was on machines and nurses were pulling air manually from his chest. They brought me in for a few minutes to see him. I knew it was serious but I didn’t realize until 1:30pm when the doctors came back to my room that he was dying. The doctor explained that amniotic fluid helps with lung development and since his sac had ruptured he was behind developmentally. He explained that there was one other process they could try but Dylan had been without oxygen to his brain for over 7 hours and would be brain dead even if this next step would work. I asked him if we could donate his organs, he said maybe his corneas and his heart valves could be salvaged but he was too tiny for anything else. I got wheeled down to his room again. They took him off all of his machines, placed him on my chest and wheeled me into Elliott’s room where I held him until he passed away at 2:16pm. Our hearts were broken.

Our focus is now on Elliott and his journey. The last few days have been a roller coaster. He has a partially collapsed lung. He has been under and now taken off of the bilirubin lights, a nurse had noted movement that could have been caused by a seizure and he got put on EEG monitoring for brain activity, that machine is now gone. He has two chest tubes to remove air that builds up in his chest and prevents his lung from inflating. He will be on a ventilator until his lungs have had a chance to heal and get stronger. I won’t be able to hold him until the tubes are gone. He will have a series of X-rays and ultrasounds and he will have good stable days, and days that will throw us for a loop. We promise to keep you updated.

Elliott is already so loved, as was his brother. The road ahead is going to be very, very long. He is estimated to stay in the NICU until his due date- February 16th. He will be set up with Visiting Nurses once we are home and have numerous doctors appointments for a very long time.  This is all after my month long stay at the hospital. We have no idea what the medical bills will be but are certain they will be astronomical. On top of all of that we are living off a single income for the time being. We have travel expenses, food expenses, mortgage payments and bills. From the bottom of our broken hearts we appreciate any financial help you can give.