It has been a very long road for my husband & I

Hi Lynda,

Thank you for writing. It has been a very long road for my husband & I. I have to say that he has been my strength and I don't think I would have ever made it through without him. I have filled out the questionnaire that came with this e-mail. My story goes beyond just losing two of our triplets in two months.

By Christmas 2000, I knew I was pregnant (I had one month of clomid (spelling??), so I was being monitored). In January, we had an ultrasound that revealed I was pregnant with triplets. In February, our basement flooded (I'm just adding in everything that happened with us from January 2001 to Oct./01). Week 16, I was taken off of work because I was cramping and my cervix was shortening too quickly. Week 18 we found out that Baby B had valves that didn't develop and had a thicker nucofold (I don't know if that is spelt correctly, but it is the back of the neck) indicating mental retardation. I was also put on full bed rest. At week 24, I was put into the hospital (an hour from both families) for the remainder of my pregnancy. It was also at week 24 that we had another ultrasound (with the pediatric cardiologist) and discover that Baby B (it was actually Baby C, they didn't realize that they had the wrong baby) had Hypo-Plastic Left Heart Syndrome. We were devastated. We knew that the chances of living were slim, but surgery to repair the heart would be possible if the babies were large enough (at least 32 weeks).

Everything was uneventful while I was in the hospital. At week 30, they did another ultrasound and it was revealed that we indeed had two babies with heart defects. Five days later, at 31 weeks, 5 days gestation, my babies were taken from me because I had gone into severe toxemia. We had two girls & a boy. Tory (3 lbs. 7 oz.), Brianna (3 lbs. 8 oz.) and Hunter (3 lbs. 13 oz.). They brought me Tory & Hunter to kiss, but not Brianna because she was so sick. They were born at 5:48, 5:49 & 5:50 p.m. Around 11 p.m., they wheeled me from recovery into the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit to spend a few minutes with Brianna before they transferred her to Sick Kids in London for heart surgery in the next day or so. We baptized the kids because we didn't know if Brianna was going to live.

On July 5/01, after two heart surgeries, Brianna passed away. I will never forget my husband coming back into my room (I was in another hospital & had been up all night with my mom & dad waiting hear something). I was upset because we hadn't heard anything for such a long time and then he told me Brianna didn't make it. My dad started yelling at my husband for not calling or letting us know what was happening. My husband yelled back. My husband's family was in the hall & said other moms were coming out of there rooms & nurses came running when they had the argument. My dad stormed off for a couple of days. We held off on Brianna's funeral because Hunter needed to be transferred to Sick Kids in Toronto & have heart surgery. They following week that happened and Hunter pulled through like a trooper. We buried Brianna on July 15/01. On July 17/01, I had a massive heart attack & died. They said if it had not been for my husband's fast action in getting me to the hospital, I would have never made it (we live in the country & don't know where an ambulance is coming from, so Brad drove me). I remember going in & out of consciousness and Brad yelling at me & shaking me to keep me awake. I remember getting out of the van & getting on the stretcher and that is where I died (in Stratford). Luckily, the cardiologist was coming into work & always enters through the emerg department. They pulled out the crash cart and were able to re-start my heart. I was transferred to St. Joseph's in London, where I had the babies, because they didn't know what was going on at this point. Later that night, they confirmed a massive heart attach & transferred me to University Hospital in London. (Now my husband had watched three of his family members be taken away by ambulance in two weeks and had three of us in three different hospitals-Tory at St. Joseph's in London, me at University in London and Hunter at Sick Kids in Toronto.) They did an ultrasound on my brain that night to make sure there was no brain damage from the lack of blood & oxygen when I died.

The first 2-3 days, they didn't think I would live because of the heart and lung damage I had suffered. They had put me into basically a drug induced coma for 5 days to rest my heart and lungs. I am a pretty determined person and on day 6 I was walking (with a walker) and eating a little food. I was transferred by to St. Joes to be near Tory. I ended up with a blood infection and C-diff in that time period & had to be kept from the other patients. I was released from the hospital on July 30/01 (the day after our 12th anniversary) and Tory was released on July 31/01. In August, we had a kitchen fire and we were out of the house for about 5 days. (Luckily, a friend owns Paul Davis Systems & took care of everything for us). Then on Sept. 6/01, while Brad & I were in Toronto visiting Hunter, things went very wrong. Brad noticed his breathing wasn't right and the monitor numbers were way off. He got help and before we knew it, nurses, doctors & respiratory therapists kept filing into the room. They brought in the crash cart and kept shocking him. After about 45 minutes of working on him, people started to leave the room. Brad & I watched as our little boy died in front of us. One thing we can say for sure, is that everyone in the room that night did everything possible for him. They think a blood clot had formed in the shunt they put in to create his aorta. We buried Hunter on Sept. 12/01. I had an uncle & cousin that try to come over from Buffalo but couldn't get over the border because of 9/11. We could not believe that we buried our second baby in two months.Then during the last week of September, I started coughing up blood. I was taken to emerg and it was discovered that I had a blood clot in my left lung and parts of both lungs were starting to collapse. I was admitted and put on blood thinners immediately. The following week, they did a CAT scan to be sure the blood clot was dissipating and found that I had enlarge lymph nodes. They thought I had Hodgkin's disease, cancer. I needed a biopsy right away. It was done on the Friday of the Thanksgiving weekend. That was the longest weekend of my life, waiting for those results.

In the meantime, my cardiologist had been in & given my the news that I now had congestive heart failure because of the damage from my heart. I felt like my life was falling apart. I had buried two babies & almost myself, had permanent heart damage & possibly cancer all in a span of 2-3 months. Luckily, it was not cancer, but I was diagnosed with Sarcoidosis (inflammation in tissue & can damage heart & lungs - mainly lungs). In the next couple of months, I was told by my cardiologist that I was going to require a heart transplant probably in 3-10 years. I could have never imagined how things turned out. On one hand, you are so happy because you have this beautiful little girl, but on the other, the loss of two babies & your own health. I didn't know what to feel. I was lost. To be honest, to the age of 33, I had always said I didn't want children, then I heard that clock a-ticking and when I'm 34, I'm told I'm having triplets. I had never pictures myself as a mom & I could no longer do the job I loved in the legal field. I was completed lost.

My heart function is about 49% and I did try working full time, but I just couldn't do it. I will probably have work part-time if I ever go back. It feels like it has taken a very long time, but I am finally back. I am taking some courses (because I couldn't go back to my work in the legal field, too stressful & demanding for my heart), losing weight and in general feeling happy again. I know that I would never have made it through any of this with my husband Brad. He is most amazing man I know. I thank God every day for him and saving my life. Tory, thankfully, was born completely healthy. We believe she has the brains & energy of the other two combined. She was speaking about 100 words at 12 months old, 5-6 words sentences at 18 months, & carrying on a full conversation at 2 years old. She is very excited to start school in September and ride a school bus!!!! She would have went to school last year at 3 years old if it were allowed! Tory is now understanding that Brianna & Hunter are in heaven and cries when she thinks about it. All in all, our family is doing fine and we have a wonderful support unit whenever we need it.

I know people like to complain about our medical system, but my husband & I can say from experience, there were very few doctors, nurses, therapists etc., that didn't put there heart & soul to what they do. The nurses at St. Joseph's Hospital, Antenatal Unit, London, Ontario, are the best you will ever find. They became my family for the seven weeks I was there and many came to visit and give their condolences while I was in for my heart attack. They will always hold a special place in my heart.

Lisa, Ontario