Jessica Hilgenberg had a pretty normal life growing up in Yukon, Oklahoma. She married David on July 7, 2007. They were surprised to learn Jessica was pregnant at Thanksgiving.
Jessica and David, a construction manager, thought things were happening a little fast. It went up a notch when an ultrasound showed Jessica was pregnant with twins. They started picturing everything in twos.
On Jan. 31, Jessica’s 24th birthday, the doctor told the parents-to-be that they could expect a boy and a girl.
The pregnancy was normal; both babies were growing and healthy. But Jessica began to show signs of pre-eclampsia and was placed on bed rest 25 weeks into her pregnancy. Her blood pressure rising, her doctor admitted her to Mercy hospital in Oklahoma City at 30 weeks.
One week and five days later, doctors induced labor. Jessica gave Caesarian birth to Braxton Bruce, who weighed 3 pounds, 13 ounces, and his twin sister, Jaydlyn Jo, who weighed 3 pounds, 2 ounces.
Jessica remembers hearing them both cry. Someone took pictures. Someone else made a video.
Nearly nine weeks premature, the twins were cared for in Mercy’s neonatal intensive care unit. Jessica and Dave were encouraged by the twins’ weight.
But the next morning Jessica awoke to hear a doctor asking how they wanted to proceed with Jaydlyn’s heart problem. She suffered from truncus arteriosus, which allows oxygenated and non-oxygenated blood to mix. The treatment is open-heart surgery.
Jaydlyn, who was also born with a defect in her diaphragm, was flown to Children’s Hospital, where doctors hoped she would gain enough strength to perform the potentially lifesaving surgery. On the fourth day, Jessica and David paid to have Braxton flown to Children’s as well so the twins could share a room. Having the family together helped.
“We could just sit there and pray with each other and talk to each other,” Jessica said.
There was a scare; Jaydlyn’s vital signs suddenly dropped. One of many kind, thoughtful nurses tried something: She put Braxton in Jaydlyn’s incubator with her. Her numbers shot up almost immediately.
At three-and-one-half weeks of age, Braxton was deemed ready to go home. Jaydlyn was being prepared for imminent, critical heart surgery, and her weight had dropped to 3 pounds.
Jessica sat in a waiting room with her husband and other family members. Hours after surgery started, she got the first call. Jaydyln was doing well, better than expected.
Ten minutes later the second call came. Jaydlyn had taken a turn for the worse. She was back on a heart machine.
The next day, Jessica and David were faced with a decision no parent should ever have to make. Jaydlyn’s lungs filled with fluid every time doctors tried to take her off the machines. She would not survive without them, and could not remain on them. When, the doctors wanted to know, would Jessica and David ask them to turn off the machines?
The nurses thought. Before the machines went silent, the nurses made impressions of Jaydlyn’s tiny hands and feet. They took photos. They clipped a curl of her hair.
Jaydlyn died May 27.
“Those nurses were our guardian angels,” said Jessica. “Months later, having had time to think about what they did, made me want to give something back.”
So last night, instead of crying, Jessica gave gifts to 25 mothers whose newborn babies are in intensive care at Mercy Hospital this Christmas. Her cousin, Crystal Robinson, had a son who spent three months in Mercy’s NICU. The two put together gift baskets with donations from local businesses.
“I went through a lot being the mom of two NICU babies,” said Jessica. “But I can’t imagine adding the holidays on top of that.”
Chili’s donated desserts and children’s meals. Ashley Coulter donated 25 50-minute massages.
Pediatricians donated product samples. Yukon kindergarteners made Christmas cards. Keller Williams gave cash so Jessica and Crystal could buy a tiny Christmas outfit for each basket.
“Everyone went above and beyond to give us what we needed,” she said. “I haven’t given enough back yet.”