And then when the twins were being discharged, one of their nurses personally made outfits for them with purple tutus and onesies that read ‘Peace out NICU.'
Twins Teagan and Kalynn were born December 27, 2017, at 33 weeks gestation to parents Amanda and Kara Farrell of Long Branch, following a serious complication in Amanda’s pregnancy associated with preterm labor, known as velamentous cord insertion. A pregnancy complication in which the umbilical cord is abnormally inserted into the placenta, velamentous cord insertion can lead to serious pregnancy complications, particularly in the case of multiple births. Kara explains that Kaylnn was the baby on top in Amanda’s uterus, and if she would have dropped down, the result would have been catastrophic. “If Kalynn had dropped, it would have possibly ruptured the umbilical cord,” Amanda
adds.
The Farrells were unprepared for the world they were about to experience in the NICU, as their older daughter, 2-year-old McKenna, was born at 37 weeks following an uneventful pregnancy and weighed 6 pounds 3 ounces. “We knew nothing about the NICU – we weren’t expecting them to be there,” Kara says. “But the doctors were phenomenal – they explained everything and provided a timeline of what would happen when, and we just knew immediately that the girls were safe.”
During the twins’ two-and-a-half week stay in the NICU, Teagan, born at 4 pounds, 9 ounces, and Kalynn, who weighed 3 pounds, 10 ounces, spent some time under the bilirubin light and Teagan underwent six hours of CPAP (continuous positive airway pressure) treatment for apnea. Kara notes that she and Amanda felt like the twins’ neonatologists treated the babies like they were a part of their own families and that they formed incredible bonds with their nurses.
“For me the most emotional part of our time in the NICU was when the nurses helped Amanda hold the babies for the first time,” Kara said. “And then when the twins were being discharged, one of their nurses personally made outfits for them with purple tutus and onesies that read ‘Peace out NICU’.”