Babies don't wait around for the pandemic to be over. The twins were coming and pregnant couple Andre and Jennifer Laubach, both suspecting to have coronavirus, were faced with heavy constraints in their situation.
Jennifer was experiencing COVID-19 symptoms on the day her water broke. So was her husband, who raced to their bedroom to pack her hospital bag. Upon returning with the bag, he felt that his symptoms had worsened and feared that he might miss the birth of his kids.
Andre found it hard to speak as he coughed violently and gasped for air. Wit hall doubts and fears aside, Jennifer decided to take the wheel and drive herself to the hospital with her husband in the passenger seat.
En route to Troy Beaumont Hospital, the couple received a phone call from their doctor; news about Andre's coronavirus test. His test came back positive. Realizing he couldn't go inside the hospital and witness the birth of the twins, thoughts of worry and fear came into his mind.
Jennifer turned the car around and dropped Andre off back home. The last words she said to her husband before heading back to the hospital were, "I love you." Andre could only nod as he went inside their house.
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"We are Having Babies"
The Laubachs are among the 37,000 people in Michigan who have been contracted by the coronavirus. The same virus caused more than 53,000 deaths in America and has affected more than almost three million people worldwide.
There have been numerous tragic stories about families losing their loved ones, newborn babies never getting to meet their mothers, and families unable to be present in their loved ones' death bed. This story, however, is a good one. Twin boys, Mitchell and Maksim Laubach, were born prematurely on April 3. Mitchell scaled at 3 pounds, while his brother came out at 4 pounds. Neither of them had the virus.
On Saturday, after three weeks of being in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit, baby Mitchell finally came home. His brother, Maksim, was left in the hospital due to complications in his lungs. However, he is due to go back home in about three to five days.
"It's Not Just a Cold"
Andre had been sick for nine days before testing positive to coronavirus. He was fighting off a cough, fatigue, and dizziness. His wife, Jennifer, also had a nasty cough, diarrhea, and shortness of breath. Neither had a fever, but they both thought they had the coronavirus.
Jennifer called their doctor on a Sunday night for prescriptions to get tested.
The following day was Andre's birthday. He turned 36 years old. He recalled telling interviewers that his wife got him a coronavirus test for his birthday.
The next day, they were in the ER at McLaren Hospital by sundown. Andre was sent home with medications for asthma after assessments revealed that his oxygen levels were high, and he had no fever.
However, upon arriving at home, his condition worsened as he kept coughing non-stop. Four hours after finally getting some shut-eye at 7 A.M., his wife woke him up to tell him that her water broke. While driving to the hospital, they received news about Andre's test coming out positive. Jennifer drove him back home before racing back to the hospital to deliver her twins.
At the hospital, Jennifer recalls the health professionals being in confusion as to how to deal with her after she told them that she might have coronavirus. Hours later, she was placed in a negative-pressure room designated for patients with COVID-19. Five hours after her contractions started, she gave birth to her twin boys.
She was not allowed to hold them right away to avoid the risk of infection but recalls how relieved she was that they made it. She tested positive for the virus after giving birth to the boys. The Laubachs told reporters that the experience taught them a valuable lesson of not taking moments for granted. The family says that cherishing every day with your loved ones is crucial as you don't know what tomorrow holds.
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