For the Bodle family, it was a chaotic three-month sequence of emergencies, life-saving procedures for newborn twins at different hospitals and nearly 12 weeks in the NICU.
And now, they’re finally back home in Camp Verde, 90 miles north of Phoenix.
Born at just 29 weeks and weighing less than one pound each, twin boys Dante and Dakota spent the first three months of their lives receiving medical care in Phoenix, while Ronald McDonald House gave their parents, Laura Moore and Daniel Bodle, a welcoming place to stay just minutes away.
“Ronald McDonald House helped us stay close to our babies and not have to leave them,” Laura said.
Laura’s pregnancy had been progressing normally when her water unexpectedly broke just 24 weeks into her pregnancy; far too early for the babies to be born. She was hospitalized in Phoenix, then discharged to a hospital in Flagstaff as doctors worked to give the twins more time to grow.
Twins Dante and Dakota held on until April 29, when they were born in Flagstaff at 29 weeks.
But the days that followed took the new family of four in different directions. Dakota needed specialized care and was airlifted to Phoenix, while his brother Dante remained hospitalized in Flagstaff. Laura, recovering from a C-section, had to wait several days before she could leave the hospital and make the two-hour drive to Phoenix to see Dakota.
Dante eventually needed a test for his heart that was only available in Phoenix at the same hospital where his brother was receiving care. The twins and their parents were finally reunited in the same city, but their home in Camp Verde was still too far from the hospital to make daily roundtrips reasonable.
So, Laura and Daniel stayed at the hospital and in hotels until a room became available at Ronald McDonald House.
“Since we lived so far away, it would have been really hard to go back and forth to do laundry, get stuff and make dinner, especially when we were busy with the hospital,” Laura said. Ronald McDonald House made the necessities of daily life possible.
For nearly two months, Ronald McDonald House provided Laura and Daniel a comfortable place where they could sleep, enjoy a home-cooked meal prepared by volunteers, do laundry and recharge after long days in the NICU.
Most importantly, staying at Ronald McDonald House meant Laura and Daniel could spend their days where they were needed most, with Dante and Dakota.
Those days weren’t always easy.
Both boys needed breathing support after they were born. Dakota faced additional complications, including dangerously low blood gases that doctors eventually traced to a hole in his lung. He needed a chest tube and was sedated for several weeks as doctors worked to stabilize him.
“There were a lot of ups and downs,” Laura said. “Doctors had to play it by ear and help things as they arose.”
Little by little, both boys grew stronger.
Nearly three months after they were born, Dante and Dakota were finally ready to leave the NICU. And this time, they made the trip together.
Now home in Camp Verde, both boys remain on oxygen, but Laura says they are becoming more alert every day. They want to be up, look around and take in what’s happening around them.
After spending their first three months in hospitals, Dante and Dakota are finally getting to discover what it’s like to be home. Still, the twins’ parents won’t soon forget what their stay at Ronald McDonald House meant to their family during the months when they were guests. “It meant a lot having a place where we could stay close to our babies,” Laura said. “We’re grateful for all of the donors who helped keep our family together.”