The Cundiff Family - 2024 Curve Ball

[Music] until we got to the hospital um everything was great we thought everything was going great um just that's in the middle of the night when we were there things started to go the wrong way unfortunately so it was [Music] traumatic so yes we did have trouble getting pregnant we realized that we were going to need fertility treatments was a surprise it was a very big surprise and even the fertility doctor was shocked everything was going smooth they thought I would make it to 33 34 weeks which is actually far along for triplets I was working full-time [Music] and then really I wasn't having any pain or anything and then through the course of that night it changed a bunch of people rushed in and they wheeled me off to the operating room she was gone for probably 15 minutes then I went in with her and just there's so much going on we always knew they would be early cuz they were triplets but not that early Cam and Leila were both 1 lb 7 oz and Matthew was 1B 3 oz they could fit in your hand very very very small all the kids had a really really rough go every day was something different that was not really positive they were all on ventilators and then OS ators Matthew and Leila both had brain bleeds they couldn't take a bottle they were fed by IV all three had heart surgery Cameron had a OST and a reversal which is for his perforation of his bowels he also had a paralyzed diaphragm on his right side I stopped taking notes I stopped I was like I can't do this anymore when a baby is born severely premature they have a risk of developing Roop which is retinopathy of prematurity the eyes are one of the last things to develop in in uteral at that moment I think it was thinking of three kids being blind was just something I just you know couldn't even imagine I was really starting to understand how bad things were they would tell us celebrate every Milestone every single one even the little things that you don't think about like weaning the ventilator or they gain an ounce they really did a wonderful job having us try and do normal things change diapers we were very excited when we could put clothes on [Music] them at one point or another we had conversations with the doctors you know Leila might not make it Cameron might not make it Matthew might not make [Music] it for us I think there was the worst time of my life absolutely yeah every day life brings stress but when you're adding in you know three kids you're worried about it's [Music] hard he eventually started having episodes where we would stop breathing and it happened more frequently as the days went on once we got those MRI results is when everything changed for us again where we had to shift to knowing that he wasn't going to survive then also having two other kids that were getting better they were wonderful and helped us do things with him those final days that you know he wouldn't have done in the nicku they let us take him on a walk it was early February it was cold it was like from one door to the other door so maybe 15 20 seconds the hospital had like a Starbucks we went and sat by the fire with him and yeah an aquarium where we Eric lifted him up and let him see the fish and gave him a little lick of a sucker you know he he liked it that was our way of showing him any sort of normaly you know and having some sort of normal moment as a family and then we sat there and held him and that process probably took few hours yeah a couple hours um where it was fully he was gone um that was awful really awful and something that nobody should ever have to experience you you don't even have time to grieve what's happening with one child because you have to also worry about what's going on with the other two Leila came home February 14th so in those few days we had planned a funeral picked out a casket buried him and then literally the next day after we buried him we took Laya [Music] home them being home was the biggest excitement you know it was still a lot um oxygen apnea monitors L feeding tube obviously any parent is nervous about bringing their kid home but when you have all this other stuff you got to worry about and you're expected to know what you're doing with the oxygen and the monitors it's adds a lot of stress and worry we had oxygen tank so we had to see the levels and then change it and if we needed to go to the doctor um we'd have to change it to a portable oxygen tank there was always something going on it was never a c week of just enjoying your children it was always something to go to something to check up on just something to worry [Music] about lots of doctor's appointments lots and lots of therapy but felt good it felt good felt normal and we had a lot of Hope at that point Cameron was taking a bottle and they were growing I think in the beginning when they were home like especially that first year second year um there was a lot of hope you know that they would talk they would you know do all these things the first time Leila and Cameron sitting up on their own they start to crawl um which you know a crawling that didn't happen until they were over a year old come on Cameron yes come on so everything's very delayed but that's expected but when it did happen you know it was super exciting many premature babies do end up having autism or with or just developmental delays even though it was hard I think we both knew they had it um but it did then open the doors for them for more therapy um which eventually then did really help [Music] them on our own without help and then she told me me and I kind of was obviously shocked um to say the least excited of course but uh then your mind goes to we have all this going on with Cam and Lea and could it happen again um could have be complications you should be excited but you're worried at the same time we didn't know what normal was until he came until I was pregnant with him and experienced a normal pregnancy and a normal delivery healthy happy get to hold your kid to hold the baby um I was able to breastfeed bringing him home after a few days um but he's been just he's been a wonderful blessing for our [Music] family then we had a CT scan and that's when they said they suspected heat blastoma or tumor of the liver and that we needed to transfer to L Children's Downtown immediately to start [Music] treatment how can this be happening like how much can one family be thrown and in such a short amount of time your mind doesn't go to a good place obviously it goes to a bad place where it's like we've already lost the sun what's going to happen she started chemotherapy um intense chemotherapy obviously she then couldn't handle a lot of feeding she was very pale obviously started losing her hair you know it was it was hard so she you know rang the bell and we had a little celebration for her it was just amazing and she is now 4 years in remission just after Leila went into remission um we had another big Health scare in this time it was with [Music] Cameron am finally came rush into the ER later find out that he was having a seizure his first seizure they eventually got the seizure under control and that's where they did diagnose him with the epilepsy because his seizure was so long and drawn out that they wanted to start him on medication right away he was diagnosed just after his third birthday it affects his right side he walks a little different his right side's weaker his right side's tighter he also has a bracho plexus injury which affects his right arm just his arm's kind of stuck like that a lot and he anything he does will like put on like his elbow or something to use that he can't really grip anything and Cameron is still non-verbal to this day and Leila has a few words she'll say yeah hies she loves hi and go sometimes she'll try and say mom so I think now at least for me the hardest part is knowing that they are going to need lifetime care they are always going to need somebody to help them getting dressed feeding um preparing things for school You Name It We Do It for them um they trying to balance a 5-year-old who wants your attention too is is not easy not knowing sometimes what they want um or them knowing what they want like ilila is very like she likes her house and she doesn't want to go anywhere she doesn't even want you to put her shoes on going anywhere is very difficult we don't do a lot of things as a family it's hard cuz you want to make those memories together and it's it's very difficult to [Music] do that is what one for the kids can help us the most with is really their long-term care I mean our biggest fear is something happens to one of us or both of us and Miss accordia is a place that we've looked into for the kids they kind of go the extra mile than a lot of the standard facilities they have more activities they do work programs craft programs you know amazing things and that's probably the type of place we would love for Cameron and ilila to to go at when they get older and they also need something more beyond our four walls you know they need something more we can't do this the rest of our life but you have to think about these things so early [Music] on that times two plus inflation you know it's basically almost college for the rest of their life and we worry about William and him being the person who's going to be responsible for them and we can't leave everything on him they need to be in a place that can take care of them when we're both not here and in a place where they can Thrive so that he can also have a normal life and and and live his life wherever that may be that's what one for the kids could really give us the peace of mind for really our whole family's future for for cam Lea's future for William's future for our future it's just just never ending unfortunately the cost associated with special needs and intellectual [Music] disabilities

Channel: One For The Kids

Views: 63,432

Keywords:

Id: WzXJolPSlrk

Length: 14min 3sec (843 seconds)

Published: Tue Mar 05 2024