Full Name: Maisyn and Madisyn Coccia
Birthdate: 02/02/2018
Gestational Age at Birth: 32 weeks
Hospital: Johns Hopkins All Children’s Hospital
Favorite Book or Toy: Penguins Can’t Fly
When my husband and I met, it was a type of love I can’t explain. We married and decided we wanted to expand our family. In August of 2017, our lives were changed forever when we found out we were pregnant with mono/mono twin girls. Mono/Mono twins are extremely rare. They share the same sac and placenta, which causes extreme concern for doctors and patients. There is a greater risk of cords tangling and the babies not equally sharing nutrients. For the next six months, we were in constant worry for our baby girls.
That October, I was at work and experienced an extremely high heart rate and blood pressure. I was sent to the ER, and I remember crying the entire way, not knowing what was happening. The doctors determined that the babies were not in danger. They placed me on modified bed rest for the remainder of my pregnancy. I was overwhelmed with emotions.
We began seeing a high-risk doctor and learned that I would need to be inpatient in the hospital beginning at 24-28 weeks pregnant. If all continued well, we would be admitted at 27 weeks. Our baby girls were little rock stars and at each bi-weekly check up they continued to do great. 
On January 1st, 2018, my husband and I left our 8 and 5-year-old daughters at home with their grandparents as we drove the hour from our home to St. Petersburg to begin our inpatient stay. My amazing husband stayed with me every night in the hospital on a pull-out chair for 33 days of inpatient monitoring. I was extremely nervous during this stay. I only saw my older girls a handful of times, because at any moment I feared I’d be rushed to labor and delivery. Some days I spent the entire day hooked up to monitors for the protection of our babies. We ended up making it to our scheduled C-section date on February 2, 2018. Mono/mono twins are required to be delivered at 32 weeks regardless. I remember walking myself into the operating room not believing we had made it to this day. Twenty minutes later, at 12:29 pm we heard our first cry from Maisyn Olivia Coccia (Baby A, 4.14lbs) and twenty seconds after that, from Madisyn Grace Coccia (Baby B, 4.12lbs). Watching not 1 but 5 nurses, doctors, and neonatologists around each of our girls was one of the scariest moments. Minutes later they were whisked away to the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU).
Nine hours after delivery, I officially met our twin girls for the first time. Seeing both girls hooked up to monitors and intubated was something you cannot prepare for. Our journey in the NICU was stressful with its ups and downs. I sat in the hospital bed three floors away in tears, with a feeling of hopelessness. We spent the entire next day in the NICU just staring and praying. There are terms we now know that we never thought we would need to know–ventilators, CPAP, PICC lines, bradycardia events, apnea events, etc. Each milestone was amazing, from getting to hold them, wearing a shirt, meeting their big sisters, getting their PICC lines removed, to breathing on their own. It is an incredible feeling that rolls over your body when your tiny little miracles make progress.
Our girls were in separate rooms for the first three weeks they were in the NICU. I could feel that Maisyn wasn’t doing as well as Madisyn and needed her sister to make progress. They moved them to the twin room and both girls made tremendous progress. At day 32, Madisyn Grace was able to come home. This was another hurdle we had to overcome, bringing one baby home without the other. Since it was flu season no siblings under five were allowed to visit the NICU. The rule prevented Madisyn from visiting Maisyn, which in turn prevented me from seeing Maisyn as often as I liked. Maisyn truly needed her sister there to continue progressing. After a few days of feeling terrible about not seeing Maisyn as often, my husband called the hospital and within two hours, we were walking through the NICU doors with Madisyn to visit her sister. They had been apart for eight days. When we arrived, Maisyn’s heart rate was very high and as we placed Madisyn in bed with her, it immediately slowed down as she turned towards Madisyn and calmed down. It was one of the most memorable moments of our NICU experience. Five days later, Maisyn Olivia came home! Madisyn spent 32 days in the NICU and Maisyn spent 45 days in the NICU.
Since having our family home together, our girls have been thriving and doing wonderfully. We are truly blessed to have our girls home as we begin the next chapter.
Wood-Mkandawire Family
The HRH bag is so much more than a bag of goodies. It was knowledge, which helped me process information that frightened me. It was hope through the stories of other women who had experienced preterm labor. It was comforting to see the pictures of other babies that were happy and healthy against the odds and inspiring to assist me to remain positive and structured. HRH knew what I needed before I did. The supply bag reminded me of Mary Poppin’s magical bag of everything “Practically perfect in every way”. Regularly if I needed something I would find myself wondering if “the bag has it” and sure enough it would!! It gave me a smile every time. I thank HRH from the bottom of my heart for all your amazing work, the small difference you’re making is so HUGE!
We tried for two years to become pregnant. We were elated when we finally found out that we were pregnant. It was a roller coaster pregnancy. At 15 weeks we learned that Sophia had Trisomy 21 (Down Syndrome). Although we were shocked by the news it was not going to deter us, we were finally having a baby. At 26 weeks we went to our perinatologist for her fetal echocardiogram. We waited for over an hour to see the doctor to learn that he had been making arrangements for me to be admitted to St. Joseph’s Women’s Hospital. It was at this time I was placed on bed rest due to reverse cord flow. Sophia was not receiving the nutrients she needed. The doctor informed us that with this condition, the majority of people deliver within a week. If this happened, Sophia would only have an 80% chance of survival. I was frantic. A few years prior, my best friend had a very similar condition. Her baby was born at 26 weeks and lived only 96 days. I was terrified this was happening to us.
I was monitored 3 times a day, some days were continual, and each day when we were wheeled down to ultrasound, we prayed we would stay pregnant one more day. We made it to 30 weeks and 2 days and delivered our beautiful Sophia Grace on Halloween. She’s our pumpkin princess. She was a tiny thing, weighing only 2.3 pounds, but a very strong little girl. Sophia
My husband and I found out we were expecting at the time I was scheduled for a hysterectomy. We were in shock for a very long time. After 12 years of not conceiving and numerous health issues, Mr. Johani Emanuel Canales was sent from above, determined in every way he would come into this world. Despite my health issues and concerns from my doctors, I made the decision to continue with the blessing and if something happened to the pregnancy then that was God’s plan and I was ok with it.
hospital bedrest for preeclampsia, where she received a HRH Bed Rest Basket. After four weeks in the hospital, a spike in blood pressure caused her to have Henry and Nora six weeks early. The babies spent several weeks in the neonatal intensive care unit, where they each received a HRH NICU Napsack. Once their entire family was healthy and home, Bailey began volunteering at HRH, delivering bags to patients and helping with various fundraising initiatives.
working, creative, intelligent,
1702 N. Avenida Republica de Cuba