A pair of prematurely born Quebec triplets contracted COVID-19 just a few weeks later, but their mothers say all three babies are fine.
Nykia Rossignol gave birth to triplets, Ellie, Jake and Mila, on November 29. Ellie and Jake weighed just over three pounds at birth, and Mila weighed just over two pounds.
Three weeks later, Rossignol tested positive for COVID-19, as did the triplets. They were, for the most part, asymptomatic.
“It was very tough,” said Laurence Fortier, a partner at Rossignol. “We lived a difficult moment at that time. And it was stressful. We don’t know what the babies are going to be like, how it’s going to turn out, just because it’s COVID and we never know. “
Fortier and Rossignol say it has been more than a year since they saw someone, except for hospital visits.
“They were in a bad mood, they were tired,” Fortier said. “It was very stressful for us. But we can see the light, like the sunny days that come ”.
Children, teens and newborns are among the growing number of Canadians hospitalized with COVID-19 as the highly communicable Omicron variant spreads across the country.
Last month, a Two-month-old baby died of COVID-19 at the Sainte-Justine Hospital in Montreal, the youngest victim of the virus in Quebec.
“I think everyone (can) be very grateful that these triplets are making a good recovery and it doesn’t appear to have been a serious case or complications,” said Dr. Jesse Papenburg, pediatric infectious disease specialist at Children’s Hospital of Montreal.
“However, we know that prematurity in general is a risk factor for serious illness in many respiratory viral infections, and we think it would probably be the same for COVID-19.”
Two Ontario children’s hospitals, in Ottawa and Hamilton, also reported this week that they admitted six babies under 12 months of age due to COVID-19.
Papenburg adds that vaccinating mothers during pregnancy, limiting social contacts and frequent hand washing are ways to protect newborns, who have immature immune systems.
Some symptoms to look out for in infants and children under the age of five who cannot yet receive COVID vaccines include: runny nose, cough, sore throat, and fever, as well as lethargy and dehydration.
The entire ordeal was difficult for the Fortier family, the parents told CityNews, especially when they recalled the moment they discovered that pregnancy meant the arrival of three babies instead of one.
“We saw one on the screen and then we said, ‘Okay, your heart is beating.’ We were stressed from the heart, you know. And after that, we saw another one, we thought, ‘Okay, we knew that, we have twins.’ And then he showed us another baby, we thought, ‘Is it the same baby?’ But it was a third, ”Fortier said. “We only have one room!”
Rossignol added: “Yes, because we were only supposed to have one baby.”
Despite all the surprises, they are happy and blessed that their three children are making a good recovery.
“It’s the surprise of a lifetime, but being together is like the best thing that could happen to us,” Fortier said.
Reference-toronto.citynews.ca