Silver Cross NICU’s success story: Family thrives with triplets

Will County’s first and only level 3 neonatal intensive care welcomed its first set of triplets shortly before the NICU’s first birthday.

Samantha and Jarrod LeSage’s triplets were born June 5 at the Amy, Matthew and Jay Vana Neonatal Intensive Care Unit at Silver Cross Hospital in New Lenox.

Ever since Silver Cross opened its NICU on July 25, 2022, more than 70 babies and more than 75 mothers have received care close to home instead of being transferred to a Chicago hospital, according to a news release from Silver Cross.

Samantha LeSage of Manteno said she planned to see an obstetrician in her town – until she had an early ultrasound at a local pregnancy resource center “just to make sure everything was OK.”

“They found three heartbeats,” Samantha LeSage said. “We just laughed in the car afterwards.”

She said the multiple births were quite random for the couple. And at age 25 for them both, they barely felt old enough to have one child, she said.

“And now we were having three,” LeSage said. “It’s crazy because I’m an only child. I didn’t even have siblings growing up. And now I’m trying to raise three of them together.”

When LeSage learned she’d need to give birth at a hospital with a NICU, she didn’t know of a local option, she said. A friend told her about the NICU at Silver Cross, she said.

“We looked it up and found it took our insurance,” LeSage said. “So it all worked out.”

Jarrod LeSage was also happy about it.

“We’re not big city people,” he said in the news release. “And we weren’t looking forward to driving into the city every day.”

Pregnancy with triplets

Multiple pregnancies are at higher risk for a number of complications, according to the March of Dimes. These include anemia, gestational diabetes, gestational hypertension, miscarriage, polyhydramnios, preeclampsia, preterm labor, severe nausea and vomiting, and stillbirth.

Samantha LeSage said she didn’t run into any major health problems despite carrying triplets. She’s always had low blood pressure, which she attributes partly to being a runner in college. She did have a few high blood sugars – but the numbers were always normal at home, she said.

“It was a very smooth pregnancy, surprisingly,” she said.

At 30 weeks gestation, Samantha’s doctor scheduled her Cesarean section for the 34-week mark.

“A few days after he scheduled it, my water broke at 4 a.m.,” she said.

Samantha LeSage said she was terrified for the babies; she was only 30 weeks along. She was scared for herself as she’d never had surgery. So in perfect denial, she decided the problem was incontinence and drove herself to the hospital.

However, she did phone a friend and let her now, Samantha LeSage said.

“She said my water probably broke,” she said.

They named Baby A Miles, Baby B Lane and Baby C Elijah. Miles weighed 2 ½ pounds; Lane and Elijah each weighed 3 ½ pounds, she said.

All three babies cried right away at birth and were only intubated for a couple of days before moving to high flow oxygen.

“Overall, they were very healthy,” Samantha LeSage said. “They had no other issues besides their breathing.”

The triplets progressed at their own rate and came home at different times, she said. Elijah, “the last one out and the first one home,” left the NICU at six weeks. Lane came home at 7 ½ weeks and Miles came home at 10 weeks, she said.

LeSage is still breastfeeding all three (with some supplementation) and she praises the care she received at Silver Cross for her success.

“The nurses gave me plenty of encouragement,” she said.

Features of the NICU at Silver Cross Hospital

• Ann & Robert Lurie Children’s Hospital neonatologists

• Neonatal advanced nurse practitioners

• Neonatal registered nurses

• Neonatal respiratory therapists

• A team of specially trained speech, occupational and physical therapists

• Lactation consultants

For more information, visit silvercross.org/nicu.