As Hayley Morgan and Aaron Liebeck gaze down at their tiny newborn twins Charlie and Iris, their eyes contain all the love, pain, wonder, worry and relief of the past few years.
These miracle babies are here, against all the odds, thanks to their parents’ unwavering strength and determination, the efforts of dedicated medical staff and state-of-the-art, Telethon-funded equipment which has given them the best possible start to life.
The couple had been undergoing IVF for five traumatic, expensive and heartbreaking years when, about 12 months ago, they had started to contemplate the devastating potential that parenthood might not be in their future.
“We were running out of embryos, looking down the barrel of doing another collection, or taking a break, it was getting pretty stressful,” Mr Liebeck recalled.
Charlie Morgan. Credit: Supplied
Upon advice from their fertility specialists the couple opted to implant their two remaining embryos in the hope “one might work”.
To their joy, and disbelief, Ms Morgan fell pregnant with twins. The couple will never forget the moment they saw the two little sacs at their first ultrasound, a moment they thought might never come.
“We went from feeling like the unluckiest people in the world to the luckiest people in the world; we’ve got twins, a boy and a girl, we couldn’t believe it,” Mr Liebeck said.
But with their joy came fear, too, when Iris’s placenta stopped working at 32 weeks, meaning the babies had to be delivered five weeks early.
On February 27 Iris, weighing just 1.5kg, and big brother Charlie, at 1.99kg, were born via c-section at St John of God Hospital in Subiaco.
It was immediately clear that the siblings needed urgent assistance.
Charlie became floppy and required immediate resuscitation, and moments after Iris was placed in her mother’s arms, she too needed medical attention.
Charlie Morgan and dad Aaron. Credit: Supplied
“I was watching her and I went ‘oh, she’s not breathing’. She started going a bit blue and the neonatologist whisked her away,” Ms Morgan recalled.
“They were being worked on at the same time, so it was pretty scary, especially for Aaron who was stuck in the middle like ‘where do I go’.”
Mr Liebeck added: “I was shell-shocked, I was scared for them. They’re getting resuscitated, Hayley’s cut open on the table.
“It was pretty special what those people did in that room. I was the only one panicking, they knew what to do, it was amazing, they got them breathing again.”
The emergency didn’t end there. Both babies were in respiratory distress and needed help breathing. Iris was fitted with a CPAP (continuous positive airway pressure) while Charlie’s condition was more serious.
Charlie was placed on one of three new Telethon-funded ventilators acquired by the SJOG Foundation in July. The Drager Babylog Ventilators offer vital temporary ventilation for babies born with critical, life-threatening conditions.
Charlie was kept on the ventilator for 24 hours, and for the first six torturous hours Ms Morgan was unable to be with her newborns as she was recovering from surgery.
It’s hard to think that if we didn’t have all this equipment, kids born this early might not survive.
“It was really hard to be away and not know what was really going on. When I was able to see them, it was pretty scary to see the CPAP on Iris, and Charlie on the ventilator, it was confronting how small they were,” she recalled.
Aaron Liebeck and Hayley Morgan and their newborn twins Iris and Charlie. Credit: Daniel Wilkins/The West Australian
“Everyone was really amazing, they were educating us on what was going on and they were really supportive.”
Mr Liebeck said it was only once the babies were out of the woods that the stress of those first few hours sunk in.
“You’re just so happy you’ve got these kids, the enormity of it all. I don’t think it quite registered how much help they needed. A ventilator is a pretty big deal,” he said.
“It’s hard to think that if we didn’t have all this equipment, kids born this early might not survive. We can’t thank everyone enough.”
The ventilator is also used on critically ill babies while they wait for transfer to King Edward Memorial Hospital or Perth Children’s Hospital.
St John of God Foundation associate director of philanthropy Hannah Weir said the equipment was already making an enormous difference to the hospital’s smallest patients.
“We extend our heartfelt gratitude to Telethon and the Western Australian community for their generous support,” she said.
“Your contributions have made a life-saving impact, funding a ventilator that will provide critical care to newborn babies in need. Together, we are giving these tiny warriors the best possible care.”
HOW YOU HELPED: DRAGER VENTILATORS
- Telethon Contribution: $180,301.50
- Impact Reach: Three Drager Babylog Ventilators (Two at SJOG Subiaco and one at SJOG Midland)
- Direct Outcomes:
- Personal Connection: “It’s hard to think that if we didn’t have all this equipment, kids born this early might not survive. We can’t thank everyone enough.” – Aaron Liebeck, father of newborn twins Charlie and Iris.
First published by The West Australian.