For Mike and Kelsey Kennedy of Canton, Massachusetts, every day brings another reason to hope.
Their twin daughters, Juliette and Kendall, were born extremely premature at 24 weeks and have spent the past several weeks receiving intensive medical care in separate Boston hospitals. While the Kennedys say they are grateful for the doctors and nurses caring for both girls, they are hoping the twins can eventually be treated in the same hospital.
Juliette is being cared for in the neonatal intensive care unit at Brigham and Women’s Hospital. Kendall, who was born with spina bifida, was taken to Boston Children’s Hospital for surgery shortly after birth.
The separation has left the family traveling between two hospitals while also caring for their two other young children at home in Canton.
“It’s difficult,” Mike Kennedy said, describing what it is like to see his daughters surrounded by medical equipment. He said the girls are in incubators with feeding and breathing support, leaving parents feeling helpless despite wanting to do everything possible for them.
The Kennedys say both hospitals have provided excellent care and that medical teams have been working to determine whether the girls can eventually be together.
Their hope became even more complicated after Juliette was taken to Boston Children’s for heart surgery. Following that procedure, she was transported back to Brigham and Women’s to continue her recovery.
The family has asked whether the twins could eventually be cared for at the same hospital. Brigham and Women’s said decisions about transfers depend on several factors, including each baby’s medical condition and stability, specialized medical needs, the parents’ wishes and available NICU beds.
Because of patient privacy rules, the hospital did not comment specifically on the Kennedy family’s situation.
The situation has also added another layer of uncertainty for the parents as Brigham and Women’s nurses have a scheduled strike ahead. Mike said the prospect of losing the familiar team caring for his daughter has been particularly difficult at a time when the family is already under enormous pressure.
For the Kennedys, bringing the twins together is not simply about making their own lives easier. They want their daughters to have the opportunity to be near each other when their medical conditions allow it.
For now, the family continues to measure progress in small steps.
A little weight gained, a good day in the NICU or another positive medical update can feel like a major victory.
“We take every little thing as a win,” Mike said. “A good day is a win.”
After weeks of uncertainty, the Kennedys are holding on to the hope that their daughters will eventually be able to share the same hospital and that the family can spend the remainder of the year closer together.
For parents whose newborn daughters have spent their first weeks of life surrounded by intensive medical care, simply being together as a family would be its own kind of milestone.
