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First Mother’s Day for 4 moms – a day of reflection, friendship & celebration

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by
Jennifer Castor
Rocky Mountain PBS

 AURORA, Colo. — “We all went through something entirely different, yet we have something in common and there’s a bond that you can’t have with anyone else,” said new mom, Bailey Fiegl.  

She recently teamed-up with three other Colorado moms – Savannah, Meg and Ali – supporting one another on their separate paths through extended care in the Colorado Fetal Care Center and NICU at Children’s Hospital Colorado in Aurora. 

 Together, this foursome has created a special friendship during some of the most difficult days.  There was the worldwide pandemic.  Then, each endured unexpected complications with pregnancies and deliveries. 

Colorado Voices

New moms create lasting bond during extended NICU stays

Four new moms find friendship in midst of emotional journeys

“It was one of the darkest and hardest times of our lives,” recalled Fiegl, with now 8-month old Riggins on her lap. He’s a twin who lost his brother in utero due to TTTS (twin-to-twin transfusion syndrome), a rare disorder where twins share a placenta during the pregnancy.  

“We are there to celebrate, and we’ll be there to cry if we need it, but we want to focus on the celebrations because they are big. This Mother’s Day is going to be special and a little bit hard. Knowing that I am a mom to one wonderful baby here on Earth and one baby heaven,” she continued. 

As the COVID-19 pandemic continued, restrictions would not allow many visitors to celebrate or offer support to the new moms. 

“I cried a lot of tears (because) I couldn't have my people there,” said Fiegl. Riggins had been in the neonatal intensive care unit for 114-days. 

Savannah DeWitt’s daughter was born in October and has been in the NICU ever since. 

“Just in general I think just having a very sick baby is an isolating experience but certainly during a pandemic it is even more so. None of our friends and families have been able to come. Our parents just met her (Leni) last weekend,” added DeWitt.   

The weeks of isolation were eased with grateful connections with the nurses and doctors.  Even those were different during the pandemic.  Faces with masks just aren’t the same. 

“I don’t even really know what half of them look like because we wore masks the whole time,” said Meg Babbitt while lightheartedly recalling any chance when a mask would be lowered for a sip of water.  “Oh my gosh, ‘that’s what you look like’ and you’re like my best friend,” she said. 

Babbitt’s twins also had TTTS.  Bodhi and Harper were born at 29 weeks and were in the NICU for 96 days. 

Ali Rummel’s newborn daughter, Faith, spent nearly 6-months in the NICU with complications.  

 Daily visits to the mostly glass walled NICU revealed familiar faces.  “It's like a fishbowl.  Your walls are basically windows and so it's hard not to walk by rooms and not notice similarities,” said Rummel referring to the equipment she’d become familiar with from her daughter, Faith’s treatment. 

“This is our little goldfish,” added DeWitt. “Bailey walked by with her husband and she waved,” the next day a hospital specialist introduced them. “That's how it started."

One connection led to another.  Before long, a new type of family was growing from within the hospital walls. 

“And then, just by chance I met Allison who has been an incredible friend and same with Meg.  It’s just was really cool how (this happened) when I needed it the most. We just feel really lucky to have each other,” she added. 

 

Positivity and hope would pull them through. 

“You can go in one of two directions when you're in a dark place like a NICU.  To find other moms who really are leaning on a hope and light, that’s contagious,” said Babbitt. 

Over a cafeteria lunch meeting, hallway conversations and texts, they would share the sorrow, but always focus on the positive. Even when it came to describing the serious details. 

“All those medical terms, I can say whatever I want, and they know exactly what I’m saying,” said Rummel. “I just think we're so strong. We overcame so much and it's awesome. I can't wait to tell that story for the rest of my life. It's my favorite story to tell.” 

Alongside the new friendship is a deep appreciation for the team at Children’s Hospital Colorado.  

“The doctors and nurses, they changed our lives – they saved our lives,” she added. 

Don’t be fooled, this group of four has left their mark on the hospital team, too. 

“Getting to see these families day in and day out fight for their babies -- They are the ones that we look up to. They go through things that we can't even imagine. Yes, we sit next to them, hold their hand and cry with them.  But we also get to rejoice when they get excited.  They are the true heroes,” said Laura Koch, the Children’s Hospital Colorado primary care nurse who met all of the moms.  

“It's been an amazing year which is weird to say with COVID, but this is just the light that we need,” she added referring to the moms’ glowing support of one another. 

 “We have everything ready to go for Leni to discharge on Wednesday, May 12,” said DeWitt. 

It’s this group of ‘hero-moms’ that will be cheering loudest when Savannah and Leni head to their Littleton home for the first time as a family.   

 “I see us being friends for a really long time and I cannot wait for our little Leni to me all of those little babies,” she added. A summer in-person celebration with these four moms, dads and babies is being planned. 

 But, as we celebrate moms across the globe, join this unique group of friends in giving thanks to one another and welcoming five of the newest Coloradoans. 

 Leni, Bodhi, Harper, Riggins, and Faith.

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