Ethan and Bridget Foster of Blanchard, Okla. had been told they would never be able to have children. Bridget had leukemia as a child and the combination of chemotherapy and a bone marrow transplant made it next to impossible for her to get pregnant. “I had wanted to have babies since I was little,” Bridget confesses. “But I knew it wasn’t in the cards for me and so I had given up hope.”
Ethan and Bridget Foster of Blanchard, Okla. had been told they would never be able to have children. Bridget had leukemia as a child and the combination of chemotherapy and a bone marrow transplant made it next to impossible for her to get pregnant. “I had wanted to have babies since I was little,” Bridget confesses. “But I knew it wasn’t in the cards for me and so I had given up hope.”
But then in October of 2020, unexplainably, and some would say miraculously, Bridget became pregnant. “It was quite a surprise, a godsend, a miracle – all those things in one. And to find out we were having twins made it even crazier.”
Lane and Ellie were born on Feb. 28, 2021. Their due date was June 11, so they were extremely premature. Lane only weighed two pounds and Ellie was just under that, though she was perceived to be the stronger of the two. Tragically, she contracted an infection - and passed away two days after birth. The Fosters were devastated and feared they would lose their son as well. “Every day there was a chance we could have lost him. Every day we left the NICU with worry,” admits Bridget.
Lane would spend 125 days in the neonatal intensive care unit at INTEGRIS Health Children’s at Baptist Medical Center. He got to go home on July 2, 2021.
The Fosters had no plans to have any other children. They didn’t think they could. So when Bridget found out she was pregnant again – she was terrified. “We were so thankful to have Lane in our lives. He has brought us so much joy,” says Bridget. “But the flip side of that, was we didn’t think we could survive another loss.”
Little Tucker was born on April 20, 2022. He was seven weeks early and weighed 5 pounds, 5 ounces. “He was huge,” Bridget exclaims. “I mean comparatively speaking. But when I heard him cry for the very first time, I could tell he was strong and healthy. After months of worry – I could finally breathe.”
Tucker would spend two weeks in the same NICU his brother and sister were in, with some of the same staff. “The Fosters are a family that has weathered the NICU roller coaster ride and they have such a beautiful testimony to be told,” says Kourtney Zwierlein, the manager of the neonatal intensive care unit. “We are thankful for the opportunity to care for their family, and that they allowed the INTEGRIS Health NICU to be a part of their story. It has been an honor to see their family grow and walk bedside them.”
The Fosters were able to take Tucker home on Friday, May 6 – just in time for Mother’s Day weekend. “Having all four of us at home together for the very first time, is the best Mother’s Day present I could ever ask for,” says Bridget.
But she quickly adds, “We are not the only family going through this. Whether you’re in the NICU for five days or 125 days, every family in the NICU has a story worth telling.”
