24 Apr Obie Family
How the Ronald McDonald House of Maine Helped Our Family Survive
Our journey started two years prior to our stay at the Portland Ronald McDonald House. In 2022 and 2023 I had suffered two tragic miscarriages. The first miscarriage had almost taken my life. My fiancé, Devin, and I each had one son from previous relationships. My son, Calyx was 5 and my bonus son, Jacob was 2 when we found out we were pregnant again. It was a very big surprise to find out there wasn’t just one baby, we had two growing in my belly! Although Devin was extremely nervous I couldn’t have been more excited. With the two losses I had experienced previously, I was quite scared we would lose one or both babies.
Being pregnant with multiple babies automatically makes you a “high-risk pregnancy”, I had appointments in Portland every two weeks to make sure our babies were healthy. At that time I didn’t realize how special that city would be to us. We found out I was pregnant with mono-di twins, which is one of the more high-risk types to have, because they were in separate sacks, but shared one placenta. From the beginning, I was aware I would end up having to deliver our babies early, hopefully, 35 weeks at the earliest.
We originally wanted to wait and find out what the genders were, but we knew that mono-di twins we knew they were identical and we would either have two boys or two girls. But I was too excited and eventually found out we were going to be having two baby girls!
Around 24 weeks I had an ultrasound and found out baby B’s cord flow was irregular, meaning the flow would go and pause, it isn’t something they wanted to see. My stay in Portland began that day. I had 24/7 monitoring and could not leave until her cord flow was normal. Wednesday, March 6, 2025 was the day we all feared. Baby B’s heart rate was extremely high. During the ultrasound, the tech was shaking and that’s when she told me that her cord flow had started to reverse. I would immediately be rushed to labor and delivery to have an emergency c-section. That was the scariest day of my life, I was only 27 weeks pregnant! At 9:35am baby A was delivered and quickly taken out of the room. At 9:37am baby B was delivered. They were both crying and all of the doctors were very happy. One of them even grabbed the doctor’s finger.
A nurse brought baby B over to me and asked me her name. That’s when I decided she would be my Hazel-Jo and her sister, baby A would be Gaia. Once I was in my room and able to talk to the team at Maine Med I was told about the Ronald McDonald House. Just a few days I was discharged and that is when my time at the Portland House began!
Shanna’s beautiful face greeted Devin and me as we arrived. They had reserved a room on the first floor because of my difficulty walking and lingering exhaustion. Shanna sweetly offered to take just Devin for the tour of the huge House so that I could rest.
We were in it for the long haul since they were so early. There was a shuttle bus we were able to take every day to go see our daughters. The House had people come in and make dinner multiple times a week. They had a closet of toys to give to kids and it made Calyx, my older son, feel so welcome when he came to stay with us! Gail would also chat with him and show him special snacks when she noticed I needed a little extra time to eat.
Shanna and Gail are two of the most amazing ladies, and the House and families are lucky to have them. They were both there for me to talk to, they asked questions about our kids or gave me some normal adult conversation that didn’t revolve around c pap machines or feeding tubes or surgeries. My son especially loved Shanna and Gail. Shanna would always make paper airplanes for Calyx, which he loved.
The girls were in the hospital for 116 days total, which meant I was at RMH for 113 days. I was still able to go home on weekends, but duringthe week I didn’t have to cook or spend unnecessary money on hospital food, I had a beautiful place that felt like a real home for myself, Devin and our sons to spend time in. That place was truly a blessing. We live 90 minutes from the hospital, I am not sure I would’ve been able to see our girls as much as I did if RMHC Maine wasn’t there.
We met amazing people, we made friends that I still connect with a year later. Calyx still asks if he can go back to the House to see Gail and Shanna. He misses the House, comfy beds, and beautiful people. It’s an absolutely amazing place for the families that need it. It is a special place we keep in our hearts. I cannot thank the staff and volunteers enough for how much they helped us and made us feel welcome!