Family Stories

Cooper Family

Dear Ronald McDonald House,

Our family wanted to say thanks for being such a safe haven for us this past spring. My husband Michael and I have had a roller coaster of a ride this year. We are proud parents of 5 children, but we found out last December we were having babies #6 & #7 and then we found out in January that they had what is called TTTS (Twin to Twin Transfusion Syndrome). This is a condition where one twin is receiving all the nutrients from the other twin while that twin is starving. We immediately were sent to Cincinnati Children's Hospital to under go Fetal Laser Surgery. We spent nearly 10 days there undergoing lots of tests and then surgery to save our identical twin girls. We were told several times we may to have to choose between them. To my husband and I there was no choice to make. Our girls were given to us by the Lord and if he wanted us to have 1 or both then that is what he would do. God allowed us to make it thru the surgery successfully, but it was a long road and we were told that we would probably have these babies several weeks early. I prayed that we could make it to those miracle numbered weeks! God had other plans though and on April 4th 2009 my water broke early and we were in premature labor. We rushed to Johnson City Medical Center to meet with our doctors. They determined it had broke but we needed to hang on longer to get steroid shots for their lungs. We were able to stop labor and get both sets of shots in. We were then praying we might hold them in for a few more weeks. But on Tuesday April 7th the twins were coming no matter what. They were delivered at 7:23 & 7:24am. Beatrice Joy was our donor twin weighing in at 2lbs 5oz and Olivia Hope our recipient twin weighed in at 2lb 11oz. They were 29 weeks and 2 days gestation, just a few days shy of being 3 months early. They immediately were intubated and sent to the NICU. God is awesome though and they were only on the vents for 2 days and then 2 days of the cannula, but by Easter Sunday the girls were breathing room air!! They were only 30 weeks old!!! Your home was so amazing to us. I was discharged on the Saturday before Easter and I was trying to get a room and the gentleman I spoke to said sorry maam we are full right now try back tomorrow. I was devastated since we lived an hour from the hospital. I immediately called my family and said please pray I can't leave them! While I was still on my cell phone, my room phone rang and the gentleman said guess what we had a cancellation just as you and I hung up so we now have a room. I was so happy (all the while this poor man listening to me bawl my eyes out) My husband and I stayed for just a few short days as that following Tuesday one of our twins were sent by fixed wing to Vanderbilt so we had to go with her while she had heart surgery. But on Easter Sunday we would have been with our family celebrating the Lords Resurrection and enjoying Easter dinner we were at the NICU.. your staff had a wonderful dinner for us and a beautiful card from some children it just made our day. Our family and other children were so thankful we had a wonderful Easter dinner to enjoy. We had to leave quickly and were unable to full fill our duties of cleaning our room and I was so worried about that, and your staff said go please don't worry we will take care of it. I again was so thankful for that! Pam was the lady we dealt with alot and she was so tender hearted and so kind during this time for us. God just put the most perfect people in our paths during our whole ordeal. Our Olivia came back from Vanderbilt 8 days later and we then decided it was time to bring our other children home and just come each day to the NICU. Our Beatrice spent 50 days there and our Olivia 42. Pretty amazing if you think they still came home a 4-5 weeks before their due date. We stayed in the Tink room which was so fitting for us, if you only knew our family story behind it for us. Thank you so very much! Our family now gives so much more when we go to a McDonalds in those little bins.. it means more when you have to use those resources. We also would love to get a box for the tabs from soda cans as our son has been collecting ever since we told him about the bins in the Ronald House. Again thank you for all you do for families like us. I have enclosed a pic of the girls now, and of our family. May the Lord truly bless you for what you all are doing.

Because of Calvary