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Alayna's Story
Our Pregnancy
The Day Everything Changed – Our Journey with Mo-Di Twins
May 28, 2021, was the day our lives changed forever.
“There are two heads,” Jeremy said, his voice filled with disbelief. Our OBGYN confirmed it just seconds later: “Yes, you are correct. We need a more detailed ultrasound.”
We had already been in about a month earlier. At that appointment, we were told there was just one baby, although measuring a bit small. Our doctor had asked us to return in a month to monitor the growth.
But from the moment we found out we were pregnant, I knew it was two babies. I said it out loud more than once. My doctor, confident, said no, there was only one. But after a few more visits and one life-changing scan, it was confirmed: I had been right all along.
Two heartbeats.
Two little identical twin girls.
Following that appointment, we were referred to a perinatologist, a specialist in high-risk pregnancies, who would work alongside our regular OB. We anxiously waited to hear from the maternal-fetal medicine team, hoping to find out more about the type of twins we were carrying.
That’s when we learned they were Monochorionic Diamniotic (Mo-Di) twins , identical twins who share a placenta but each have their own amniotic sac. However, the appointment didn’t end with just that news. One of our twins wasn’t developing normally. There were signs of a serious abdominal wall defect. The prognosis was grim, and the doctor warned us our pregnancy might never reach viability.
They suspected Gastroschisis or Omphalocele both rare, but very serious conditions. The difference? In gastroschisis, the baby’s organs develop outside the body with no protective sac, exposed directly to the amniotic fluid. With an omphalocele, the organs are also outside the abdomen, but enclosed in a protective sac and protrude through the belly button.
It was too early to tell which diagnosis we were facing. What we did know was that our hearts were breaking.
We were presented with two options:
- Terminate one twin and proceed with a healthier singleton pregnancy.
- Continue, knowing we could lose both.
We were devastated. Cindy kept thinking, What did I do wrong? This wasn’t how it was supposed to go. Our first pregnancy had been healthy. This one was supposed to be, too. We clung to the perinatologist's words ... “It’s not your fault” ...but it was hard to believe. The questions were endless, the guilt overwhelming. Every moment between conception and diagnosis was re-examined in Cindy’s mind, searching for answers that would never come.
The truth? There was no reason. No cause. No one to blame.
And yet, somehow, we pressed on. Week by week. Ultrasound after ultrasound.
We made it to 22 weeks.
Then 24.
Then 28.
Each appointment brought a mix of hope and fear. We held our breath every time we waited to hear both heartbeats. We met with neonatologists, pediatric surgeons, geneticists, cardiologists, and more. The preparation was endless, the anxiety relentless.
But we made it.
October 26, 2021 – our delivery day.
34 weeks and 4 days.
A bright, beautiful morning.
At 9:00 AM, our daughter Alayna was born. Jeremy baptized her right there in the operating room, a sacred moment we'll cherish forever, before she was rushed off to surgery. Just one minute later,
Payton joined us, crying strong and healthy.
Two beautiful girls.
Safely earth-side.
The NICU
After birth, Alayna was rushed straight into surgery. The goal was to carefully place her organs back into her tiny body. But her abdominal cavity was just too small. It wasn’t the outcome we had hoped for, and it meant more waiting, more uncertainty.
She was transferred to the NICU, where her medical team quickly came together with a new plan. A custom case was designed to safely hold and protect her organs while giving her body time to grow strong enough for the next step. It became a long, emotional waiting game, days filled with monitors, procedures, and quiet hope.
Then finally, on November 11th, after two long weeks of waiting and worrying, Cindy was able to hold both of her girls together for the very first time. That moment, warm skin, tiny bodies, and so much love, is one we’ll carry in our hearts forever.
Despite everything she had been through, Alayna was full of life and love. She had the brightest, most curious eyes, a perfect little button nose, and a quiet strength that radiated from her tiny body. She loved bright lights, the sound of voices, especially Mom and Dad’s, and the comfort of milk swabs from Mom. She was small, but her presence was enormous. Her spirit lit up the room.
After everything she faced, Alayna showed us what it meant to be strong.
She spent her earliest days in the NICU, surrounded by monitors, wires, and a team of dedicated doctors and nurses doing everything they could to support her healing. But more than anything, she was surrounded by love from her family, her care team, and especially her twin sister, Payton, who was never far from her side.
Alayna’s spirit was anything but quiet.
She had a spark from the very beginning, bright, aware, and deeply connected to the world around her. Her curious eyes took everything in. She responded to voices, especially Mom and Dad's, and found comfort in the smallest things light, sound, and even tiny swabs of milk. She may have been small, but her energy filled the room.
Payton, our other bold little soul, matched that energy in her own fierce way. Her presence was loud, determined, and impossible to ignore just like her sister’s, only louder in volume! Together, they were a force.
Every milestone Alayna met every squeeze of a finger, every steady heartbeat was a triumph. She wasn’t just surviving; she was showing us who she was. Her strength. Her sweetness. Her fight.
In her short time earth-side, Alayna taught us everything about resilience, love, and grace. She changed us. She shaped us. And she lives on in the heart of our family.
We carry her with us always in the sparkle in Payton’s eyes, in every moment of quiet strength, and in every reminder that the tiniest lives can leave the biggest impact.
The Months that followed
Despite her strength, her fight, and the love that surrounded her, Alayna’s journey on earth came to an end far sooner than we had ever imagined.
On December 10th, 2021, we held her in our arms as she took her final breaths, following a sudden infection.
Letting her go was the hardest thing we have ever done.
There’s no way to prepare for the moment you say goodbye to your child. No words to soften that kind of heartbreak. Alayna was only here for a short time, but her impact will last a lifetime. She taught us how to love deeper, hold tighter, and live more intentionally. She changed the way we see everything.
Grief doesn’t go away. It becomes part of you. It shifts, evolves, and shows up in unexpected ways. In the middle of that pain, we felt a pull, a need to do something more. To honor Alayna’s life, and to support others navigating the same unimaginable path.
That’s how the N-E-W Healing Hive was born.