Unexpected Bumps, and a Community to Get Them Through

Earlier, we met the Bushaws: Expecting parents who had their expectations turned on their heads when they discovered they were awaiting mono/mono twins: a high-risk, highly rare case of identical little boys.

At Natalie’s twenty-eighth week, she was admitted to the hospital for monitoring and spent seven weeks there before the birth took place. During those long weeks in the hospital, Natalie relied on CaringBridge to be her lifeline to the outside world.

A Beautiful Birth

One of the earliest posts Natalie wrote on her CaringBridge website: “After months of anticipation, prayers and miracles, our twins have arrived! Owen Paul (tummy baby) and Logan Thomas (heart baby) made their world debuts on June 23, 2003 at 10:08 and 10:09 am. Owen arrived at 4 lbs. 8 oz., 17 in. and Logan at 4 lbs. 5 oz., 17 ½ in.”

Beautiful stats, and the boys did better than expected at birth.

But that didn’t mean there weren’t hurdles.

The boys faced heart and intestinal surgeries at just months old. There were “unexpected bumps” all along the way, Natalie remembers.

Recalling the early years, Natalie says, “There never was a stretch of time until they were closer to 7 years old where it was calm. We constantly updated our friends and families—they’d had 30 surgeries and procedures between the two of them at that point.”

And it was the community that kept them going through staph and bacterial infections, procedures and more surprises.

“During the worst of days, knowing that our community was with us – going through what we went through. That got us through those days,” Natalie says.

Room to Grow

And now the twins verge on teendom. Life still isn’t simple: Logan will require a heart transplant, for one. But the boys have goals and life dreams that shift as regularly as any other boys their age: Owen, the boy with a hypoplastic right thumb, wants to be a basketball player. Logan is a performer and wants to be a ventriloquist and create a series of YouTube videos.

Natalie shrugs, as she knows that 12-year-old boys’ dreams shift and grow as they do.

“If Ben and I can raise good boys who are good to the world and give back, we’ve done our jobs.”

Twelve years later, CaringBridge is still integral to their communication process.

“CaringBridge has been this huge core thing in our lives for 12 years and it’ll always be a part of our lives. The emotional connection that happens on CaringBridge doesn’t happen anywhere else.”

Because of You

CaringBridge supporters ensure that families like the Bushaws can continue to share their story and get strength and encouragement from their loved ones. Thank you.