IF YOU WOULD LIKE TO JOIN MY TEAM IN THE 2010 SMH HALF MARATHON ON 16 MAY PLEASE CONTACT ME AT henryjasperevan@gmail.com  

  "A person's a person no matter how small" Dr Seuss
                                                                                 
This memorial website was created in the memory of our beloved triplets, Henry, Jasper and Evan Smith.   Triplet brothers destined to stick together.

 "So they went off together.  But wherever they go,  and whatever happens to them on the way, in that enchanted place on the top of the Forest a little boy and his Bear will always be playing."  The House at Pooh Corner, A.A.Milne

      
                       OUR MIRACLES
Ash and I were delighted to find out we were pregnant early in 2006. A blood test showed my hormone levels were very high so we went for our first ultrasound at seven weeks and there they were - three hearts beating on the screen. It was such a miracle, and we thought we were the luckiest people in the world.

The pregnancy progressed well, with scans every few weeks showing the babies developing normally. People would see I was pregnant and ask if it was my first and I ‘d proudly say: “it’s my first three!”

I knew that this was a high-risk pregnancy, but I never considered that my babies could die. However at just 21 weeks my waters broke while I was at the supermarket. I drove myself to hospital where I was told I would probably go into labour within 24 hours, and that our babies were going to die.

My whole life came crashing down, it was like a terrible nightmare. I sobbed and pleaded with the doctors to do something, anything to stop me going into labour. However, intervention cannot be given this early. At 21 weeks, the babies wouldn’t live more than a few minutes. It was just devastating.

A scan showed that one baby’s waters had broken, but all three babies were alive and healthy. Amazingly, I hung on; but five days later, Henry Tim was born, so beautiful and perfect and looking just like Ash. He gave a tiny cry and was laid on my chest where, for one precious hour, I held him and felt his heart beating against mine. We named him Henry Tim and talked to him and felt incredible, intense love for him. His tiny hands squeezed onto our fingers and then, an hour after he was born, he passed away.

Incredibly Henry’s siblings didn’t follow their brother into the world that day. As intervention isn’t given to babies born before 24 weeks, we had a long way to go. But as the days passed our hopes grew.

At 24 ½ weeks, after three weeks of bedrest in hospital, my waters broke once again and Jasper and Evan were born by emergency caesarean. They were immediately intubated (tubes inserted into their lungs and attached to machines to breathe for them) and transferred to the neonatal intensive care unit at the Royal Hospital for Women.

Weighing less than a kilo each my boys had a long fight ahead. However, babies this small had survived before and we were optimistic.
The first few days were promising. Both boys were taking my expressed breastmilk through tubes into their stomachs. We spent every day sitting by their humidicribs marvelling at how beautiful they were and falling in love with them.

But when our babies were ten days old, we rushed to the hospital in the middle of the night as Evan had taken ill. We sat with him through the night and in the morning learned that he had suffered a severe brain haemorrhage. Heartbroken, we had no choice but to remove him from his life support.

This was the first time Ash and I had held Evan. We told him how much we loved him, kissed him and he slipped away while he was in my arms.

Over the next few weeks Jasper began to grow stronger. Amidst the worry and sadness of this time, we also have some beautiful and happy memories of our time with him. There was the amazing day that he opened his eyes for the first time, the handful of times we were allowed to take him out of his crib for a cuddle, and the time I gave him one precious breastfeed. 

But, like many such premature babies, our baby had chronic lung disease. Jasper’s lungs kept collapsing and many times over the next few weeks we came close to losing him. However each time he amazed his doctors and fought on.  At 58 days old Jasper’s lungs collapsed again, but this time he could not be revived. Once again we took our baby out of his crib, and held him while he passed away.  (for more details of Jasper's life, see his eulogy in 'HIS LEGACY')

The days and weeks following Jasper’s death were terribly hard. I busied myself organising their photographs and memory boxes. Ash and I talked about them all the time, and about the incredible love that they had brought into our lives.

I desperately wanted something to keep their spirit and memory alive. I wanted their lives to have meant something, and for them to have made a difference in this world.

Trying to help me get through the days, Ash suggested I train for a half marathon, and dedicate it to Henry, Jasper and Evan, raising some money for the Royal Hospital for Women in their memory. I asked a few friends to join me and put out a flyer at a few local cafes. I was amazed to end up with a team of 98 runners and together we raised $80,000 for new humidicribs.

The Royal Hospital for Women Foundation agreed to set up a permanent Trust Fund in Henry, Jasper and Evan’s names to raise money for life-saving equipment for babies in intensive care. Since then I’ve organised teams of over 100 runners in the Half Marathon each year to raise much needed funds for this Trust. To date over $300,000 has been raised!

This May will be our fourth annual team run in Henry, Jasper & Evan's memory, and we will be raising money for neo-natal monitors, which are vital to the survival of premature babies.  Knowing that Henry, Jasper and Evan are helping other premature babies makes me the proudest mum in the world.

If you would like to join my team in the half marathon please email me at henryjasperevan@gmail.com. 

If you would like to make a donation to the Henry, Jasper & Evan Smith Trust at the RHW Foundation, please go to: http://www.givenow.com.au/rwhmarathon

Click on 'Make a one-off donation' and follow the prompts. Thank you for your support.



"But of course, it isn't really Goodbye because the Forest will always be there...And anybody who is friendly with Bears can find it."  The House at Pooh Corner, A.A.Milne

In one of the stars
I shall be living
In one of them
I shall be laughing
And so it will be
As if all the stars
Were laughing
When you look
At the sky at night.
The Little Prince
Antoine de Saint-Exupery

We would like to thank Dr Siobhan Lee, Dr Lyn Townsend, Dr Kei Lui, Dr John Smyth, Dr Meredith Ward, Dr Jeff Aiken, Dr Sandra, Dr Annette, Dr Lolitha, Dr Ravi, Dr Swapnell, Dr Manoj and all the doctors at the Newborn Care Cenre, Royal Hospital for Women for their enormous efforts to save Jasper and Evan's lives.  

We would like to thank Allison, Maria, Michelle, Sarah, Claire, Wendy, Tenille, Deb, Nick, Andreja, Anne-Marie, Mary, Jenny, Cara, Janelle, Jo, Erica, Tanya and all the nurses who so lovingly and tenderly cared for Henry, Jasper and Evan, and worked so hard to try and save Evan and Jasper's lives.  

We would like to thank Anne Mayo who helped us through the most difficult of days.