WATCH: A Nanaimo couple received perhaps the greatest gift of all this Christmas, but it is one that has left them struggling to cope. Vanessa Tremblett gave birth to identical twin boys just before Christmas, 10 weeks premature. They already have three kids at home in Nanaimo, and it could weeks before the family are all together again. Kori Sidaway has their story.
Vanessa and Dax are proud new parents to twin baby boys. But their identical twins came into this world much earlier than expected.
Only 26 weeks into her pregnancy, Vanessa Tremblett went into labour. And just two days before Christmas, little Jameson and Apollo came into this world by an emergency C-section.
“Their heads can’t be bigger than a peach,” said Tremblett.
“Their whole hand wraps around the tip of my finger, that’s how little they are,” added her partner Dax Doucette.
Just under two pounds, the brothers were immediately flown off to Victoria General Hospital by helicopter.
“I had a chance of losing three people so, it scared me a lot,” said Doucette.
And so far, it’s been touch and go.
“The days are good, the nights are long,” said Doucette.
“I cry when she sleeps. I have my moments when she’s in bed and I don’t want her to worry about me. She needs to heal up and take care of those boys.”
And their boys are battling. The four-day wait to hold their babies recently came to an end.
“Momma got to hold them yesterday for the first time which was awesome,” said Doucette smiling.
“I cried a lot. There was a lot of crying,” said Tremblett.
Right now, the couple is unable to work and is worried about their three kids left behind in Nanaimo. But their family is stepping up.
“I wanna see the babies!” said Doucette’s mom Friday after a lengthy hug, the first since the babies were born.
With a slew of tests and a long recovery ahead, the family is grateful for all the help, from both their families and all the doctors.
“They saved our boys,” said Doucette.
“The survival of us and our kids has truly rested in the hands of these people and I couldn’t be more thankful,” said Tremblett.
“Thank god we’re in Canada for medical, we couldn’t afford this without that,” added Doucette.
The early Christmas miracles will likely remain in the NICU for another month, as lung or brain issues are ruled out. So for Jameson and Apollo, it’s looking like a long road home.
A GoFundMe campaign for the family has been set up here to help with their missed wages and mounting bills.
Kori Sidaway
