Celina France with twins Bindi and Freya. Photo / Jenna-Lee Shave
Bindi and Fraya’s first Christmas was spent in intensive care, with Covid-19 restricting visitors from wider family.
This year, the premature Cromwell twins’ mum and dad plan on having another crack at the festive holiday. And they are doing their bit to promote the work done by the Ronald McDonald House, which estimates it will be supporting about 75 families with children in hospital over Christmas this year.
Celina France described her pregnancy in 2021 as “pretty normal” to begin with. She visited her mother in Invercargill over Labour weekend in October for one last catch-up before the babies arrived.
“Everything was fine, but I was making the bed around bedtime when my water broke,” said France.
“I was 27 weeks and six days pregnant at the time, I was rushed to the hospital and I was in such a panic.”
A few tests and checks revealed she’d likely have her babies that night without intervention and she was helicoptered to Dunedin with a midwife, as there were concerns she could give birth on the helicopter.
At Dunedin Hospital, staff rushed France to a birthing suite where she was given injections and pills to stop the contractions.
Hospital staff told France she’d need to stay in Dunedin for another month, despite her husband Jonny still being back in Cromwell for work.
“It was quite overwhelming, it was like every day thinking, ‘Am I going to get an infection?’ Or, ‘What if this happens’, panicking something would happen to my youngest twin whose water hadn’t broken yet.”
At 28 weeks, France met with a paediatrician who explained what would happen if the twins came early - how small they would be and the list of procedures needed for their support.
Then came a visit to the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit where France saw other premature babies being cared for.
“It was quite surreal, I realised how full-on it all was. Seeing the babies was good, but it was extremely overwhelming seeing it all.”
France was transferred to Southland Hospital and had reached 32 weeks and one day of pregnancy when she went into labour, giving birth to two baby girls on November 21.
The elder, Bindi, was immediately rushed away the moment she was born, weighing only 2kg.
“I got quite emotional, I didn’t get to see her but I could hear her crying, so I knew figured she was okay. But then [the midwife] told me to keep pushing, so I had to just keep going.”
Fraya was born eight minutes later at 1.75kg.
France said the experience was upsetting, she got herself down to theatre to see her twins who were both hooked up to monitors, IV drips and tubes.
She got emotional as she remembered her mother was a twin but her sibling passed away after a day.
“They’d put something on Bindi to help with breathing as she was really struggling, she was trying hard but her whole chest was going in and out,” she said.
“My mum’s twin was the eldest twin and Bindi was obviously the eldest, so it definitely struck me quite hard having that experience as well.”
It was three days before France got to see her daughters’ faces, with their breathing gear finally removed. In the following days she watched their health improve steadily, but she still couldn’t leave the hospital.
As Christmas approached, Ronald McDonald family room, Southland Hospital provided toys for the twins and NICU staff decorated their cots.
France got into the festive spirit and put the twins into Christmas outfits, while the Ronald McDonald family room provided Christmas dinner, which she said made the stay a lot easier.
Christmas Day was also the first day France’s mother, stepfather and brother were able to meet the twins in person.
They came to visit individually, as the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic at the time meant visiting procedures were strict.
The reality of the situation continued to bite for France.
“Christmas was probably where I got the most emotional, I was thinking ‘Oh, my babies are in hospital’ even though they didn’t know much.”
The family were released from hospital on December 29, when the twins were 5 weeks old.
The twins have been making steady and healthy steps forward, Bindi now weighing 10.1kg and Fraya 8.72kg.
“They’re doing really well,” said France.
“They both had mild heart murmurs which were from being born early, but Bindi’s has closed over now and Fraya’s is very mild, so it doesn’t affect anything.”
The pair are still learning to crawl, Bindi is a bit further ahead as she army-crawls across the ground while Fraya just started last week.
“[The twins] are a bit behind for their age because of being born early, but they’re tracking well.”
Christmas Day this year promises to be a stark contrast - France hopes to redo the twins’ first Christmas and celebrate it the way she wanted.
The extended family will be getting together for a big gathering.
“It’s actually quite a happy time leading up to Christmas, as I can do all these things with them like customised baubles,” France said.
“I bought them these reindeer soft toys and that made me feel quite nice as well. But it will be nice to spend it with family, the twins are both really happy, healthy babies with no health problems which is amazing.”