Hot Dish: From Our House To Yours
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NEWS!
Ronald McDonald House Charities, Upper Midwest
Spring | Summer
2012
Three Little Babies Bring Big Meaning to Life Esmé, Henrick and Scarlet Erickson prove that miracles do happen
W New year, new leaders at RMHC-UM
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hen Esmé, Henrick and Scarlet were born to Ann and Brady Erickson, they had already beaten insurmountable odds. After numerous infertility treatments and two previously unsuccessful in-vitro attempts, Ann and Brady were given a 15% chance for one embryo to implant and a less than .05% chance of all three implanting. “When we learned we were pregnant with triplets, we knew there was a special plan for these little lives,” Ann said. After several unsuccessful attempts to delay it, which included weeks on bed-rest and 11 days of hospitalization to attempt to stop contractions, Ann went into active labor at just over 24 weeks. “For 11 days, I would have a contraction
New dad to triplets
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House dog, Jerry, brings a sense of home
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In seeing them, I experienced the profound love of a parent. It’s amazing how life takes on a whole new meaning in those moments.”
every five minutes and feel pure panic. The babies were so alive and safe inside me, but I knew my body was trying to push them out to a world they weren’t likely to survive. I spent 11 days fighting my own body to try to save our children.” The babies arrived 16 weeks early on February 1 with weights ranging from 1 pound, 6 ounces to 1 pound, 12 ounces (babies of this size are classified as micro preemies). “The babies were born perfectly formed, just really, really small,” Ann said. “In seeing them, I experienced the profound love of a parent. It’s amazing how life takes on a whole new meaning in those moments.”
The House inside the Hospital allows local families to be close to their children, which as noted by the Ericksons, can be especially valuable during a Minnesota snowstorm. “When we stay here we get to spend every moment with the babies.” During the first 24 hours of fragile life for the triplets, the medical team at Children’s Hospitals and Clinics in Minneapolis worked to determine all the details of the babies’ care. Esmé had a bleed on one side of her brain, but was the most stable of the three. Scarlet responded to her mother’s voice first and yet needed the most intensive support, with bleeds on both sides of her brain. Henrick was the largest of the three and needed a more supportive ventilator, which is common for male preemies. When the triplets were two days old, Henrick took an unsettling turn. He was on medicine for nearly every major organ in his body (for some organs he was on two). He needed multiple blood transfusions, which are extremely difficult for such continued on page 3
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