Regional One NICU babies Bear, Leo, and Wylder love playing at home together. Dr. Giancarlo Mari is the medical director of Regional One’s HighRisk Obstetrics department. babies, even when they were still in my belly. They became part of our family.” Have we mentioned that the three older brothers are identical triplets? Leo, Wylder, and Bear were born in November 2014, 10 weeks early, with 100% of the same DNA, the same fingerprints, and the same body features. One egg, one split … and then, another split. The occurrence of the same egg splitting to produce three genetically matched embryos is, shall we say, uncommon: a one in 200 million likelihood. There’s only one thing that can be more uncommon for this family along with the Regional One medical team to have overcome. Survival of all three of these “doll babies,” as Jennifer calls the triplets, is beyond rare. A better word is “miraculous.” Carrying three identical triplets is a pregnancy fraught with difficulties. Chances are good that one or two of the babies won’t survive. That’s why Jennifer and Ashton’s obstetrician 5 in London sent them across the Atlantic to Memphis—to Dr. Giancarlo Mari and Regional One’s High-Risk OB team. “I called Regional One when I was eight weeks pregnant and still in London,” recalls Jennifer. “I told them I was coming and they said, ‘Good, we have time to prepare for you.’ They had a whole plan together for us by the time we arrived at 13 weeks pregnant. They were fully prepared.” Jennifer is in awe of what she calls a highly trained medical team with heart. It’s one thing to scientifically know about women’s bodies and how to keep babies alive. It’s a gift when the experts also compassionately care about their patients. “My medical team at Regional One had so much love to give us,” she says. “They all cared—every single person, from Dr. Mari to the lady taking out garbage. Everyone had such good chemistry and truly looked out for us.” Her medical team for the triplets’ delivery plan was 40 people large. Despite having offices in separate locations on the Regional One campus, they convened regularly in a common space to update each other on the family’s progress. They held weekly meetings with Jennifer and Ashton and taught them everything they needed to be aware of in a high-risk pregnancy. REGIONAL ONE HEALTH FOUNDATION
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