Prayer may not be a part of our daily lives, but sometimes we witness miracles that show that prayers are answered.
“The twins are going to be born today, and they’re going to ᴅɪᴇ,” a doctor told Kayla Marie Ibarra as she was wheeled into the delivery room. The mother could not believe her ears. “There you go?” she asked the doctor, who added: “Babies who are born this early simply don’t survive. This is impossible.”
This is what a qualified doctor told the Canadian mother when she went into ʟᴀʙᴏʀ with her twins at 22 weeks pregnant. However, these words and the doctor’s experience did not convince the woman, and she still did not give up hope.
Almost miraculously, the twins survived, although they had to spend 115 days in the ɴᴇᴏɴᴀᴛᴀʟ ɪɴᴛᴇɴsɪᴠᴇ ᴄᴀʀᴇ ᴜɴɪᴛ.
Kayla and her husband have been married since they were 18 years old and were very enthusiastic about starting a family. Their first child, Noah, was born on October 19, 2016. She was a healthy baby, and almost two years later, the couple decided it was time for a second child.
Kayla soon became pregnant again, and soon after it was revealed that they were expecting twins.
The woman’s husband and mother-in-law already suspected that this might be the case because the signs of pregnancy appeared very quickly, so Kayla was the most sʜᴏᴄᴋᴇᴅ.
Everything went smoothly until September 23, 2018, when Kayla developed a cold and felt ʜᴏʀʀɪʙʟᴇ, at which point she was 21 weeks and 5 days pregnant.
She called her midwife on the phone, who urged her to go for a check-up, and Kayla agreed, even though at the time she thought nothing could be seriously wrong.
He spent long hours waiting in the hospital, and when he was finally examined, they said his urine was clear. However, as soon as the nurse said the words, Kayla felt the first ᴄᴏɴᴛʀᴀᴄᴛɪᴏɴ that signaled she was in ʟᴀʙᴏʀ.
She was then given an ᴜʟᴛʀᴀsᴏᴜɴᴅ, and although the nurse couldn’t believe it was actually happening and kept reassuring the mother, Kayla’s ᴀᴍɴɪᴏᴛɪᴄ ꜰʟᴜɪᴅ soon ʙʀᴏᴋᴇ and a doctor was called.
The doctor told her that her twins would be born that day, but they would not survive because the delivery was too early. She also told Kayla that she wouldn’t let her see the twins or listen to their heartbeats because she thought it was a waste of time.
The callous doctor repeated the same to the woman’s family, who immediately began weighing their options. While they were thinking about what to do, Kayla’s sister-in-law asked her mother to pray, but Kayla refused – she was angry with God.
The doctor was ready to conduct the birth, but he did not plan to medicate Kayla, who would have been with her the whole time. So she decided to close her eyes and tell God how angry she was about what had happened, and to her amazement, the ᴄᴏɴᴛʀᴀᴄᴛɪᴏɴs stopped after her prayer.
This bought them time, and Kayla asked the doctor to wait a little longer. The next day, she was seen by a ʜɪɢʜ-ʀɪsᴋ obstetrician, who ᴡᴀʀɴᴇᴅ her that if she decided to wait any longer, she could ᴅɪᴇ and that no hospital considered babies viable before 23 weeks.
Kayla was adamant, determined to wait as long as she could while she and her family tried to find a place where she could safely deliver the babies.
Kayla was in ʟᴀʙᴏʀ for 4 days, and although she kept begging for ᴍᴇᴅɪᴄɪɴᴇ, her pleas were not heard. Meanwhile, he was diagnosed with ᴘɴᴇᴜᴍᴏɴɪᴀ, which made his situation even more ᴅᴀɴɢᴇʀᴏᴜs.
New hope came in the form of a new doctor, who, after a few phone calls, found two London hospitals willing to accept them. Kayla’s children, Luna and Ema Rose, were finally born at 21.12 and 21.29, respectively.
Ema was the bigger one at 0.45 kilos, and Luna was slightly smaller at 0.39 kilos.
The sisters are doing great today. Luna and Ema, who now prefers to use the name Rosie, are making great progress and are not behind their peers at all.
Kayla is now trying to stand up for the rights of premature babies and has also founded a non-profit organization called TwentyTwoMatters, which provides, among other things, medical articles and a map of hospitals that mothers can go to as early as the 22nd week of pregnancy if they go into labor.
