During her second pregnancy, Nadia and her husband Shane found out they were expecting twins, and their son Eli was excited to become a big brother. It wasn’t until a follow-up appointment that they were told that they had MCMA (Monochorionic Monoamniotic) twins – a rare, high-risk pregnancy. Nadia’s twins shared everything – including growing in the same sac and sharing the placenta – heightening the risk of complications.
With these risks, staying at home wasn’t an option. At 25 weeks, Nadia moved to Ronald McDonald House Hobart, over three hours from her home, family and friends. She went from having a support network to knowing no one, and required daily monitoring at the Royal Hobart Hospital. But she found a safe space with us.
“On the weeks where Shane couldn’t make the 3.5-hour travel down, the staff were all I had. They have become lifelong friends.”
For 85 nights at Ronald McDonald House, Nadia went to sleep not knowing if she would have one less heartbeat in the morning. “The House and staff really became our lifeline through this journey, it became our second home and the staff became our family. “
They made a plan to deliver the girls early, lowering the chance of losing them as they got bigger. They welcomed both girls at 32.5 weeks in April 2023. As the girls grew stronger, they were transferred to a hospital closer to home, and after a 33-day stay at the Launceston General, the girls were discharged and brought home to meet the rest of their family.
“We just love them [the staff at Ronald McDonald House] so much. They made life a lot easier with a two-year-old and made us all feel so welcome. We really could not have done this without them.”