You’re Safe, Little Sister: a Mother of Triplets Made the Heartbreaking Decision to Risk Her Boys’ Lives to Save Their Baby Sister by Delivering Dangerously Early
You’re safe, little sister: A mother of triplets made the heartbreaking decision to risk her boys’ lives to save their baby sister by delivering dangerously early.
In Australia, Chloe Dunstan gave birth to triplets at 28 weeks because doctors told her she would lose her daughter in utero if she didn’t deliver early. Although her two sons were healthy, her daughter was deprived of oxygen and nutrients in the womb. Unfortunately, Chloe’s doctors asked her to consider letting the girl die to save the boys.
However, Chloe refused to kill Pearl (see below) and decided to go ahead with the premature delivery.
She explains, “I feel guilty for delivering the boys when they were developing so well in the womb. But Pearl would have died if we hadn’t delivered prematurely, so I’ll never regret it. I remember briefly considering letting her go so that her brothers could continue to grow up healthy and get the best start in life, but now that she’s here, my heart aches at the thought of not having her in our lives.”
The Daily Mail reports that Chloe and her husband Rohan welcomed their triplets Henry, Rufus and Pearl on July 3. After the birth, they stayed in hospital for eleven weeks before being able to return home. Initially, Henry weighed just over a kilo, Rufus less than a kilo and Pearl just a kilo and a half. The babies had to undergo blood transfusions and, as expected, Pearl had the hardest time.
“Pearl had a CAP in her heart that closed on its own, she had a lung hemorrhage, a minor brain hemorrhage, she fought a horrible infection and there were days when we weren’t sure she would make it, especially the first few weeks when she was on a ventilator. She had metabolic bone disease, which resolved with medication. The main problem was her liver, as she was jaundiced the whole time she was in hospital, but the latest scan showed everything was fine,” said Chloe.
On social networks, Australians are reacting to Chloe’s journey and her Instagram page has over 45,000 followers. She uses the social media site to update her followers on her babies’ progress. In fact, on September 4, she announced that her boys would be going home, and then two weeks later, she announced that Pearl could also go home.
Chloe concluded, “At this stage, I can’t say exactly what the future holds, but all three babies are strong and healthy and have no known problems. Pearl is still taking a bunch of medication, mainly extra vitamins, and all three babies have various appointments in the coming months. So far, we’ve been lucky as the babies sleep well and only wake up every 4 or 5 hours to eat. Still, it takes over an hour to feed, change and put them to sleep, which sometimes feels like a never-ending cycle.
Today, Chloé spends time with her babies, as she’s on leave for a few months. She already has three older boys, Evan, 3, Otto, 2, and Felix, 1, and can’t wait to see how her older children bond with their new siblings.
Source: dailymail.co.uk