I gave birth to twins prematurely, at barely 26 weeks age of gestation. That's because the waterbag of Twin B (Lance) broke too early. When Lance's waterbag collapsed, the waterbag of Twin A (Andrei) started pushing him towards my left iliac, causing physical trauma to my poor angel. 

Despite what happened, the monitors showed that both hearts were still beating. When they were extracted from my womb via CS, none of them cried nor reached 1kilogram in weight.

Lance had to be revived from having a flatline. He had a deformed skull, displaced ribcage, and bruises all over him. He had pneumothorax and had to be punctured through needling twice. Yet the first time I visited him at Day 2, he was dancing to his Dadda's singing. He was responsive and was smiling to my words of affection. At Day 6, he had not yet peed, he had anasarca (generalized swelling), he had to be injected 3 isotopes for his heart to contract, and had gone less and less responsive to our voices. He had been transfused with RBC twice and 3 units of platelets. He had been medicated with a mild diuretic and had not been responding to it. We looked for a stronger diuretic which might urge him to pee, because the option to have him undergo peritoneal dialysis had gone dim after finding out that his peritoneal wall could no longer accommodate the procedure. The strong diuretic was a risky option because it would lower his already low BP. His running hospital bill at Day 8 had gone up to PHP199K+. There were signs of necrosis and I'm afraid we're about lose him anytime. 

Andrei, although his condition was not as bad as Lance, had to be incubated, intubated, and be hooked to a ventilator at first. At Day 5, he was weaned from the ventilator, and had been allowed to drink my expressed milk and had progressed from being allowed an intake of 1ml per 6 hours, to 1ml per 4 hours, to 1ml per 2 hours. At Day 2, his urine output was half less than the normal and his potassium content was going high (hyperkalemia), which could trigger a cardiac arrest anytime. Good thing that he responded to Furosemide and had peed excessively, causing us to replenish the depleting potassium. At first, he was not as responsive to our voices as Lance. Lately, it had been the other way around. He would cry when we're done with the viewing hours. Although, no crying sound comes out from him because of the tubes... But I know that he has to stay intubated in an incubator so that he will grow and look like a mature baby, so I can take him home... At Day 8, his running hospital bill was PHP153K. Andrei seems to be responding well to the treatment.

As of this writing,  I am still experiencing pain from the surgery, have a big bloated tummy, swelling legs--yet I spend almost 12 hours everyday to go talk to different specialists, process their documents, medical supplies, bills, express milk, worry about finances, pray, cry, strategize on how to raise funds, travel 6 hours a day, so that my twins will survive.

Despite all these, I am thankful to the Lord that he gave me two beautiful fighters/warriors who aren't giving up on life despite all that they have to go through. We're raising funds so that they can undergo the necessary treatment in order to be given a fair fight against the plight that they are in.

I knock on your hearts, please spare some cash for my twins, Andrei and Lance.

UPDATE AS OF JULY 21, 2016

Yesterday was the saddest day for us, Lance's frail body surrendered to the toxins after 10days of not being able to pee... I lost one of my precious warriors. He was a hero up to the last second. The doctors said we had to let go. We didn't want to let go. They did 4 full cycles of resuscitation, injected 6 epinephrine. His thorax was bleeding because of the pressure that his tiny chest had to endure everytime they tried to revive him... As a nurse, I know that we should already stop after cycle 2 because the process was doing more harm to his frail body, but the mother in me could not even find the courage to check the items at the DO NOT RESUSCITATE form. The most painful thing that a parent can ever experience is to bury a child...

"Goodbye, my precious warrior, Lance. Now, we have a cherubim in heaven. Please ask Papa God to heal your twin, Andrei..."

EPILOGUE

The battle continues as we await Andrei's recovery.  Although he responds well to the treatment,  he remains to be in ICU and aside from his running hospital bill,  his stay there would incur a daily cash spending of P1, 200 to P12, 000 on TPN, antibiotics,  and random procedures that his pediatricians deem necessary for the management of his weight,  sepsis,  and whatever complications that might arise along the way...