Alice Springs family leave hospital after twin boys born 10 weeks premature at the height of COVID-19

Alice Springs family leave hospital after twin boys born 10 weeks premature at the height of COVID-19

Samantha (Sam) Hacon is a bona fide country girl who is used to the rough and tough country life, living in Alice Springs and working as a nurse, but nothing could be more challenging than delivering twin boys 10 weeks premature on Thursday 30 April 2020, while her husband was in a different state and the country in lock down due to a pandemic.

She has handled a difficult and stressful situation with grace and humour; she is now reunited with her husband Tim and they have two beautiful boys Matthew and Richard who are thriving and healthy babies.

“My brother and his wife live out on a cattle station in Far North Queensland, they had both their children through Dr Charlotte Mooring and I always knew I would go with her as they had such a wonderful experience with her and we knew she could manage a pregnancy remotely,” she said.

It was very early on in the pregnancy at the six-week mark when Sam and Tim were having their first scan they discovered they were having twins.

“After suffering through two miscarriages all we wanted to see at that scan was a heartbeat, they were able to find it and then suddenly there were two. I have two beautiful step-children and we were so excited for them to have a younger sibling, finding out they were getting two so amazing and special,” she said.

For Sam her pregnancy was going well, and all her scans looked great, however when she was 27 weeks the COVID-19 pandemic worsened in the country and travel restrictions were beginning to be implemented between states.

“I had originally planned to take my maternity leave at 30 weeks with a planned c-section at 35 weeks, however upon consultation with Charlotte she asked me to be in Queensland and complete my quarantine just in case anything happened, and I needed to see her quickly,” she said.

Sam was able to relax on the Gold Coast where her parents live and was officially on maternity leave with Tim planning on joining her a few weeks later closer to the twins c-section date however at the 30 week mark her membranes ruptured and she was rushed to hospital.

  “Charlotte came to see me and advised the babies were going to need to come out that day and we should proceed with a c-section as soon as possible. Fortunately my mum was able to be with me for the birth,” she said.

Sam then called Tim who was still in Alice Spring to let him know she was about to go into theatre and the boys were about to be born.

“I knew this would be very stressful for Tim as one of his other children was born premature, so he would be quite scared to hear this as it’s a journey he’s all too familiar with,” she said.

“Tim was able to call me back while Dr Callum Gately the Neonatologist came in to see me. Callum is a divine human being, he was able to talk to both of us and explain everything that was going to happen to the boys. He was so reassuring and explained the outcomes and said these babies do well.

“We knew exactly what was going to happen to the boys, down to the staff members who would be taking care of them where they were going to go and how it was going to look. What would have been a confronting situation was made better by the fact that we were so well prepared.” 

Sam says it was a lovely experience and she could not have asked for a better team to be supporting her. She was then taken to recovery, later that night she and her Mum were able to go in to the nursery and meet the boys for the first time.

“I didn’t really believe in the whole love at first sight but as soon as I saw them I had the whole love rush came to me. Callum provided us an update on how the boys were doing and we saw him every day the boys were in his care since then,” she said.

Tim was still in Alice Springs he was madly trying to get a flight to Brisbane however they were both concerned as he may be subject to the two weeks quarantine once he entered the state.

“Fortunately, Tim was granted special permission on compassionate grounds and did not have to quarantine, due to this the Mater Mothers were happy for him to enter the hospital,” she said.

While in NCCU the family faced a few hurdles with the boys needing extra attention from time to time, Sam said the teams working between the Mater and Queensland Children’s Hospital were amazing.

Finally, after 84 days in care the family were officially discharged from hospital and the two happy and healthy boys will begin to make the long journey home and Sam is so excited for them to be home.

“The words thank you to everybody involved will never actually be enough for what we have been given,” she said.

 

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