Lara Bakir

Our story started in Oct 2018 when we found that we were going to have twins. We had always joked about having twins. Two kids, one pregnancy, once and done, that was the plan. But my daughter Mila was already born in July of the year prior so… so much for that plan.

We knew early on that it would be a difficult pregnancy so I was referred to a doctor who specializes in high risk pregnancies. Our target was to get to 34 weeks, at which point the lungs would be fully developed.

On Monday 15th of April 2019, which would have been the 31-week mark, I was scheduled to have a steroid shot to help speed up the twins' lung development. A shot that I later found out was based on reseach supported by March of Dimes. But, in the early morning hours of Saturday, 13th of April my water broke. I quickly called my mum to come and stay with our then 21 month old daughter and we headed to the Woman's Hospital of Texas. I couldn’t have imagined what was going to be our reality for the coming months.

When we got there, we realized quite quickly that, this was it, those boys were going to be delivered that day. And from then on it was a bit of a blur. I kept thinking, I wish I made it to Monday for the steroid shot, how can we delay their birth, what’s going to happen….

We met with a doctor and he told us of some things to expect and the next thing I knew I was prepped for surgery. I remember being in the operating room with what seemed like a ton of people - doctors, specialists, nurses, teams of nurses, all ready… but I wasn’t ready.

At 8:55am Patrick was born, weighing 3 lbs. A minute later, Marcus came weighing just under 2.5 lbs. I saw them briefly and then they were whisked away through the double doors. I later found out that Marcus had stopped breathing for a few mins after birth.

Some time later I was able to go see my boys in the NICU. It’s hard to describe the feeling of seeing your child for the 1st time being this tiny little thing, covered in tubes and sensors, and in a box. And to hold one of them was such a coordinated effort, but it was always time that the NICU nurses were willing to give.

Those first few months were the hardest. The boys would make strides, and then we’d have a setback. The worst was not knowing the fate of your children, and if all that's happening now will have a long-term or permanent impact on them physically or mentally down the road, or even if they were going to survive. But eventually we got used to life in the NICU. We got to know the amazing doctors, and the wonderful NICU nurses and the support staff. New families came in, older families moved on but it never felt quite normal.

After 10 weeks, Patrick was able to come home. But Marcus needed longer. 2 weeks later, after 84 days in the NICU, he was allowed to come home, but he needed to be on oxygen support. I remember they offered us a night in a private room at the hospital to help with that transition, but I had Patrick at home and it was my daughters’ 2nd birthday so I decided to go home.

Marcus ended up needing oxygen for 8 weeks afterwards and again, those first few weeks were the hardest. Hearing that alarm from the oxygen machine, not knowing whether the sensor shifted from his tiny foot or if he truly was having a “dip”. Eventually we were able to wean him off the oxygen, and that was another round of worry – whether he was getting enough oxygen, too much. But he made it. They both did. We are really fortunate that we can now look at our boys, happy, healthy and strong.

So when we were approached to partner with Schlumberger and March of Dimes, it spoke to my heart. We know just how important MoD is because during that entire period, we received MoD funded support through research, equipment, medicine and all of the other support resources that helped to save our little ones’ lives, and helped us to get through that very difficult time. We are fortunate and happy to be here to share our story and help raise funds so that other families can have the same opportunities that we had.