Harris Family

Within that past couple of years my husband and I have experienced four miscarriages.  The loss of a child, no matter at what stage, is heartbreaking.  Doctors told us after each miscarriage that there is nothing wrong with us, we are still young and that we will go on to have healthy children.  In July 2008 we learned that we were once again expecting.  We were very excited, but also a bit nervous.  On September 2, 2008 we had our first appointment with our doctor.  Our pregnancy was confirmed and we even heard a heartbeat.  What a precious sound that was.  We had a couple of more routine appointments over the weeks and everything seemed to be progressing nicely. On October 27, 2008 we were scheduled for our first ultrasound.  We were 18 weeks pregnant and we would get to find out if we were having a boy or a girl.  We were so excited.  The ultrasound technician began the scanning process and we were thrilled to see fingers, toes and, especially, a strong heartbeat.  We also discovered that we were having a little boy.  The ultrasound technician printed off a few pictures and told us that she had to go show them to our doctor and that she would be right back.  When she returned with our doctor and an ultrasound specialist we immediately knew that something was wrong.  The specialist did some scanning and proceeded to tell us that there was not only one little boy, but two.  However, they were very severely conjoined.  We were immediately overwhelmed with a flood of emotions and our hearts were shattered.

We were pregnant with a severely conjoined form of Dicephalus twins, Ezekiel (Zeke) and Zachariah (Zach).  Often times these types of conjoined twins are delivered stillborn and if they do manage to make it to full term they usually only live for a few hours.  Our little guys each had their own head, spine, stomach and liver.  Between the two of them there were three arms and two legs.  However, they shared only one set of lungs and one very abnormal heart, which made separating them impossible and their chance for survival pretty much nonexistent.  Zach had no complications of his own. However, Zeke was our little bundle of medical issues.  He had something called Dandy Walker Syndrome, which is literally a missing piece of the brain, he had a hernia which caused an elevated stomach and liver, he had a clubbed foot, and he had fluid on the back of his head which was most likely caused by the abnormality of the heart.  Due to the many ultrasounds that we had after learning about the condition of our boys, we developed a very special bond with them before they were even born.  It was interesting to learn about their very detailed and intricate body and it was amazing to watch them grow.

During our pregnancy, we had awesome support from both of our families, our church family, our friends and our doctors were incredible.  We are extremely grateful for the encouragement, support, love and generosity that so many people showed us.  We could not even imagine how difficult it would have been to go through the pregnancy of our boys feeling alone. 

On Saturday, January 3, 2009, at 28 weeks pregnant, we headed to the emergency room when I started feeling some pretty intense contractions. I was admitted to the hospital and Ezekiel and Zachariah were born on Thursday, January 8th at 1:58 p.m. via c-section.  They weighed 3 lbs. 14.6 oz. and were 13 ½ inches long.  They lived for just over an hour and passed away at 3:16 p.m.  The delivery of our boys was spectacular.  They never opened their eyes or cried, but they moved their arms and legs, held our fingers and hung onto life for as long as they could.  I will never forget how their warm, wet body felt as they were lying on my chest.

The Fetal Hope Foundation was such a huge blessing to us.  My sister-in-law contacted them and told them that my husband had a brother and a sister in California and we, unfortunately, could not afford to fly them home for the birth/death of their nephews.  The Fetal Hope Foundation did not hesitate.  That same day they funded the cost of two airplane tickets from California to Michigan and my husband’s brother and sister were able to hold their nephews before they passed away.  Our experience was life changing, our boys were more precious and beautiful than we could have ever imagined and The Fetal Hope Foundation gave us a gift that we will always cherish.