"My twins were born 16 weeks early - my son died at 21 days while my daughter fought for her life in hospital for 101 days"
- 2 months ago
A mum who gave birth to twins 16 weeks early lost her son at 21 days old - while his tiny sister survived after a 101 day fight for her life in hospital.
Breanna Seibel, 30, and her husband, Chase, 32, an electrician, were "excited" when they found out they were expecting two babies at their five-week scan in December 2021.
But just 20 weeks into the pregnancy, Breanna started experiencing back pain and felt like she was going into labour - four months early.
Doctors checked her over and sent her home but a few weeks later, on April 19, 2022, Breanna started experiencing contractions.
She was rushed to hospital and seen by specialists - who determined she was in labour and already 1cm dilated and 100 effaced.
Medics managed to stabilise Breanna and she was admitted to hospital on bed rest.
She managed to make it to 24 weeks when she started bleeding heavily on April 23, 2022, and doctors told her they had to deliver the twins right away.
Just 30 minutes later Teddy and Vivi were born at 4.30pm and 4.31pm - weighing 1lbs 8oz and 1lbs 7oz respectively.
The babies were immediately placed in incubators and whisked to the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) - where it was "touch and go".
Sadly, after 21 days in the NICU, Teddy passed away due to a brainstem herniation - the shifting of the brain tissue from one space in the skull to another - on May 14, 2022.
Vivi continued to fight for her life and after 101 days in hospital, she was able to be discharged, in August 2022 - with Breanna describing the moment as "bittersweet".
Breanna, a nurse, from Saint Paul, Minnesota, US, said: "When Teddy died I went into survival mode - it is nothing than trying to make it out alive.
"That night, Vivi's lungs were the clearest I had ever seen them be.
"When we left hospital in August, it was really hard - we were still scared about Vivi's health.
"If she got sick we knew she could be immediately admitted.
"It was a bittersweet moment - we had the nursery set up with two cribs and two sets of everything."
Breanna had been experiencing back pain for a few weeks before she found out she was in early labour.
She said: "By the time I went in I was a few centimetres dilated so it was likely that I had been in labour the whole time.
"My contractions at that point were very strong and really close together.
"I stood up and there was blood everywhere but my waters didn't break.
"They said they wanted to deliver my babies there and then but it was a small hospital and they did not have the facilities I needed."
Breanna got blue-lighted to a larger hospital - which the facilities to deliver and care for premature babies - in Minnesota and Chase followed behind in his car.
She said: "It was all a bit of a whirlwind.
"I had a lot of ultrasounds by a specialist and I was monitored a lot.
"They gave me a magnesium drip and were monitoring my contractions."
Breanna Seibel, 30, and her husband, Chase, 32, an electrician, were "excited" when they found out they were expecting two babies at their five-week scan in December 2021.
But just 20 weeks into the pregnancy, Breanna started experiencing back pain and felt like she was going into labour - four months early.
Doctors checked her over and sent her home but a few weeks later, on April 19, 2022, Breanna started experiencing contractions.
She was rushed to hospital and seen by specialists - who determined she was in labour and already 1cm dilated and 100 effaced.
Medics managed to stabilise Breanna and she was admitted to hospital on bed rest.
She managed to make it to 24 weeks when she started bleeding heavily on April 23, 2022, and doctors told her they had to deliver the twins right away.
Just 30 minutes later Teddy and Vivi were born at 4.30pm and 4.31pm - weighing 1lbs 8oz and 1lbs 7oz respectively.
The babies were immediately placed in incubators and whisked to the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) - where it was "touch and go".
Sadly, after 21 days in the NICU, Teddy passed away due to a brainstem herniation - the shifting of the brain tissue from one space in the skull to another - on May 14, 2022.
Vivi continued to fight for her life and after 101 days in hospital, she was able to be discharged, in August 2022 - with Breanna describing the moment as "bittersweet".
Breanna, a nurse, from Saint Paul, Minnesota, US, said: "When Teddy died I went into survival mode - it is nothing than trying to make it out alive.
"That night, Vivi's lungs were the clearest I had ever seen them be.
"When we left hospital in August, it was really hard - we were still scared about Vivi's health.
"If she got sick we knew she could be immediately admitted.
"It was a bittersweet moment - we had the nursery set up with two cribs and two sets of everything."
Breanna had been experiencing back pain for a few weeks before she found out she was in early labour.
She said: "By the time I went in I was a few centimetres dilated so it was likely that I had been in labour the whole time.
"My contractions at that point were very strong and really close together.
"I stood up and there was blood everywhere but my waters didn't break.
"They said they wanted to deliver my babies there and then but it was a small hospital and they did not have the facilities I needed."
Breanna got blue-lighted to a larger hospital - which the facilities to deliver and care for premature babies - in Minnesota and Chase followed behind in his car.
She said: "It was all a bit of a whirlwind.
"I had a lot of ultrasounds by a specialist and I was monitored a lot.
"They gave me a magnesium drip and were monitoring my contractions."