The newborn boy lived only 21 days and thus saved his twin sister and mother by ensuring the delivery at 24 weeks. His sister Vivi is now 9 months old and she is thriving.
Mom Breanna Seibel, 29, who is studying for her master's degree in nursing in Wisconsin, credits her son Teddy with saving her and his sister Vivi's life, now nine months old, after doctors were forced to deliver the twins prematurely.
"Teddy saved his sister's life," Breanna says. "Doctors told us that if I hadn’t given birth when I did the chances are all three of us wouldn’t have made it. His head was right in the birth canal, and he was trying to come out, like he was trying to warn us."
The twins were born 14 weeks prematurely by emergency C-section last April 23. Teddy was born at 4:30 p.m. weighing 1lbs 7oz and Vivi was born at 4:31 p.m. weighing 1lbs 6oz. Both babies were taken to the neonatal unit at United Hospital in St. Paul, Minnesota, with brain hemorrhages and were under 24-hour monitoring.
Teddy looked better than his baby sister, but then his condition worsened and he passed away in his mother's arms.
"Losing Teddy was terrible, he passed away in my arms," Breanna recalls.
Breanna and her husband Chase, 31, decided to put Teddy next to his sister, Vivi. As the couple claims, soon afterwards Vivi's performance had significantly improved. Little Vivi struggled with hemorrhage and pneumonia. After 101 days, however, she was discharged home. She is now going through all the stages of her development.
"When we wrapped Teddy up and brought him to meet his sister, her vitals improved and she started to get better," the mom says. "She's just a miracle. It's remarkable from what she came from. She inspires me so much."
Breanna and Chase were happy to learn they were expecting twins in December 2021. Breanna's pregnancy went smoothly until she started feeling back pain at 23 weeks and three days. She went into labor.
Doctors did everything they could to stop the preterm labor. Doctors had to perform an emergency C-section after the mom-to-be started bleeding profusely at 24 weeks.
"The babies were so small they could have fallen out of me," Breanna says. "Teddy's head was in the birth canal, ready to come out."
During surgery, doctors realized that the mother and twins might not have survived, seeing that Breanna's placenta had detached as a result of the rupture. Breanna was able to see her twins later that day.
"When I saw them, I was numb," she said. "Their brains were like thin tissue paper."
The siblings were placed in separate rooms because there was no room available for two, and Breanna and Chase took turns visiting them.
Teddy's condition suddenly began to deteriorate and his head began to grow larger due to pressure from a brain hemorrhage. The family was told to say goodbye. Gradually his breathing slowed and he passed away in his mother's arms.
Despite the loss, the couple tried not to give up for the sake of their daughter, Vivi, who had a long journey to recovery. Miraculously, she was able to make it and went home on oxygen last August 2, just nine days before her due date.
"We were told it would be a miracle if she weren't hospitalized," Breanna says. "We're happy she's doing so well, now. Teddy played a big part in Vivi getting better. Teddy passed away so that Vivi could live."
Vivi now weighs 13lbs 6oz and wears three- to six-month-old clothes. The family hopes to hold a memorial for Teddy this year and hang his pictures around the house so Vivi knows who her brother is.
Source: hulldailymail
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