FULL VERSION
MEET
THE SPINAS
After two previously
healthy pregnancies, Matt and Tiffany Spina assumed the third wouldn’t be any
different. However, they started to notice that things were different very soon
after Tiffany was pregnant with Bria and had to take multiple trips to the hospital.
“I started bleeding for absolutely no reason and I would have to rush to the
emergency room to get an emergency ultrasound.”
Despite being told everything was fine, Tiffany’s water broke at just 23 weeks. “I think as we were rushing to the hospital, I knew that I was in labor but I just didn’t expect that she would be born that day,” recalled Tiffany. “To me, at that point, babies weren’t born that early.”
Once they got to the hospital, everything happened fast. “One of the nurses checked to see how things were and how dilated I was and immediately turned around to get a doctor,” said Tiffany. “Bria’s cord had prolapsed so her umbilical cord was being birthed already and her head was pressing on it. So, at that moment the nurse got onto the bed, held Bria's head and umbilical cord essentially inside of me and we started running through the hallways to the operating room.”
Bria was born at 23 weeks and 3 days, weighing 1 pound, 6 ounces. Matt was able to go down with her immediately and was the first one to hold her. “I think they let him do that because they didn't know if she would survive, so they at least let him have that that one moment with her,” Tiffany said.
For 213 days, Bria was connected to machines that helped her fight to stay alive. “It's a really strange feeling to want to reach into the incubator or into the crib and just pick up your child and hold them in your arms and look at them and talk to them, physically feel them, and not be able to do that and know that you can't,” Tiffany recalled.
After spending seven months and one day in the NICU, Bria was finally ready to come home and meet her big brother and sister. “That was probably the biggest excitement of it—getting to bring her home to her siblings who had never gotten to meet her,” Matt said.
The effects of her early arrival linger to this day. Bria still receives care—she requires oxygen when sleeping and has a G-tube. But overall, she’s doing well. “I don't even have a word for her really because she encompasses so many things,” Tiffany says. Tiffany and Matt are thankful that March of Dimes was there to support their family throughout their entire NICU journey.
SHORT
VERSION
MEET THE SPINAS
After two previously healthy pregnancies, Matt and Tiffany Spina assumed the third wouldn’t be different. However, they noticed that things were different soon after Tiffany was pregnant with Bria. “I started bleeding for absolutely no reason and I would have to rush to the emergency room to get an emergency ultrasound.”
Tiffany’s water broke at just 23 weeks. At the hospital, everything happened fast. “One of the nurses checked to see how things were and how dilated I was and immediately turned around to get a doctor,” remembered Tiffany. “Bria’s cord had prolapsed so her umbilical cord was being birthed already and her head was pressing on it. So, at that moment the nurse got onto the bed, held Bria's head and umbilical cord essentially inside of me and we started running through the hallways to the operating room.”
Bria
was born at 23 weeks and 3 days, weighing 1 pound, 6 ounces. For 213 days, she
was connected to machines that helped her fight to stay alive. After spending
seven months and one day in the NICU, Bria was finally ready to come home and
meet her big brother and sister. The effects of her early arrival linger to
this day. Bria still receives care—she requires oxygen when sleeping and has a G-tube.
Tiffany and Matt are thankful that March of Dimes was there to support their
family throughout their entire NICU journey.
