“A life so brief” Gary and Amie Rohan’s beautiful, sad twin birth

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Content warning: This post discusses the loss of a baby. Gary and Amie Rohan welcomed two baby girls last week – and marked the birth with an emotional Instagram post.

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Our beautiful baby girls have arrived Thursday the 12th of April 2018 Bella Rae Rohan 1780g / 3 pound 14 43cm 8:59am Willow Nevaeh Rohan 1295g / 2 pound 13 41cm 9:00am The most perfect little souls we have ever laid eyes on, we feel so truly blessed to be your parents xxx Amie, Bella and I soaked up every second we had with Willow, making as many lasting memories as we could all together. Its those little moments we know we will never get back, and we will forever cherish the time we spent as our little family of four, before our darling Willow grew her little angel wings ?? Bella is currently getting some special care in the NICU nursery but all in all doing very well. We can’t thank our team at the Royal Woman’s enough, yesterday was one off the hardest days Amie and I have ever had to deal with. It was a day full of many mixed emotions and you, our team, made everything so perfect. Words truly can’t express how grateful we are. To absolutely everyone else, thank you so very much for your kind words and support during this sad, happy, joyful and exciting time in our lives we are very proud parents off two beautiful little girls who we love so very much xxx Our little angel Willow, oh how much you taught us in your precious 5 hours here ‘A life so brief, a child so small, you had the power to touch us all’

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“The most perfect little souls”

Amie gave birth to tiny Bella and Willow a month early, at 9am on Thursday. Five hours later, baby Willow passed away. Willow had a condition called anencephaly, and the couple were aware that their time with her would be short but incredibly special. Baby Bella is doing well and was born early, but healthy.

“Our beautiful baby girls have arrived,” a grieving Gary, who plays for AFL football team the Sydney Swans, wrote. “The most perfect little souls we have ever laid eyes on, we feel so truly blessed to be your parents.”

“Amie, Bella and I soaked up every second we had with Willow,” Gary wrote, “making as many lasting memories as we could all together. It’s those little moments we know we will never get back, and we will forever cherish the time we spent as our little family of four, before our darling Willow grew her little angel wings.”

“Our little angel Willow, oh how much you taught us in your precious 5 hours here ‘A life so brief, a child so small, you had the power to touch us all.”

  Read more about twins:

“The meaning of love”

It’s clear this couple are determined to celebrate their gorgeous girls, facing this challenge together with an open-hearted mindset and an inspiring gratitude-first attitude.

“Bella Rae and Willow Nevaeh, you have changed our lives forever baby girls,” new mum Amie posted, thanking supporters for their messages of love.

“Oh how much love I have for you both, you two have truly shown mum and dad the meaning of love.”

The couple were met with an outpouring of love and support from followers, who had been on this journey with them, in their own way.

First trimester diagnosis

In the first trimester of Amie’s pregnancy, the couple were told that one of their babies had the fatal neural tube defect anencephaly. 

“Amie and I are over the moon to share with you all that we have been blessed twice over. Sadly, one of our beautiful bubs has been diagnosed with anencephaly,” Gary told his Instagram followers back in November.

“Babies born with anencephaly are not compatible with life. Ames and I have known about this since our 11 week scan, and since knowing, we’ve been constantly discussing what we should do, how we should tell people and if we should tell people at all. We come to the decision that either way, BOTH our babies are beautiful, precious human beings, with the only thing being that sadly ones life is destined to be cut short.”

Anencephaly is a congenital birth defect that occurs in approximately one in one thousand pregnancies. It is a neural tube defect, just as is spina bifida. Life expectancy for a baby with anencephaly after birth is a few hours to a few days.” – source

“One of the hardest days”

Gary explained that Bella is currently in the NICU unit, doing well but getting some extra care, and thanked the team at the Royal Women’s Hospital for their support and compassionate care during a very special and very sad time.

“We can’t thank our team at the Royal Woman’s enough, yesterday was one of the hardest days Amie and I have ever had to deal with. It was a day full of many mixed emotions and you, our team, made everything so perfect. Words truly can’t express how grateful we are.”

“To absolutely everyone else, thank you so very much for your kind words and support during this sad, happy, joyful and exciting time in our lives we are very proud parents off two beautiful little girls who we love so very much.”

Gary’s team, the Sydney Swans, wore black and white armbands during their weekend game, to mark the birth of Bella and Willow – and send a message of support.

Our deepest sympathies to Gary and Amie on the loss of Willow, and heartfelt welcome to tiny Bella.

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