Family Faces News Challenges Having Recent Triplets During COVID-19 Pandemic
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ST. CLOUD, Mn. (WCCO) -- Mother's Day during the COVID-19 pandemic presents new challenges, especially for new parents. One mother in St. Cloud gave birth for the first time last month to triplets. That means three times the joy, but also concern.
Two days after her tiny trio entered the world on April 20, Katie Dorn of Sauk Rapids finally got her first chance to hold her daughters.
"That was really hard to be separated from them right away," she said.
The new mother had a difficult labor to the point where her life was in jeopardy.
"l lost 60% of the blood in my body. I had to have several blood transfusions," she said, adding that she spent the next few days in the ICU.
She luckily recovered, but experienced trauma once she learned of her near death experience.
"Fears of not being there for your children, not being there for your husband," she said. "Yeah, it was pretty scary."
All the while her girls Gianna and Vivian, identical twins, and Penelope, their fraternal twin, were recovering in the NICU. They were born about six weeks early.
"That's a lot of what parenting is, right? We plan for things and it doesn't work out the way we planned," Dorn said.
Adding to her stress is a pandemic that's forcing safety changes at Centra Care St. Cloud Hospital that she and her husband Eric Lucker never expected.
"When I go and see the girls I have to have a mask on. So it's hard to not be able to give them kisses," Dorn said.
She and her husband aren't allowed to see the babies at the same time, so they take turns visiting the NICU on different days. Their relatives aren't allowed to visit at all.
The couple now limits how often they're in public, opting for curbside pick-up at the grocery store instead of going inside. Dorn said they've also had to reject countless offers of help. Staying isolated from other people isn't necessarily for their own health, but their children.
"There are some days that are easier and some days that are harder. We know that this is what's' best for our girls. We know that they are in good hands," she said.
It's unclear when the girls will be able to come home. Dorn said the last step is making sure the girls can breathe and eat at the same time. Right now they're all on feeding tubs. But their progress keeps Dorn in good spirits.
"We're all struggling right now and we're just lucky to have three healthy girls," she said.
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