Parents Who Both Had Coronavirus Hold Twin Sons for First Time Nearly 3 Weeks After Birth

A pair of new parents in Michigan who both recovered from coronavirus were finally able to meet their newborn twin sons three weeks after the boys were born and whisked away due to the virus.

Jennifer and Andre Laubach, both 36, were able to hold their twins Mitchell and Maksim for the first time on April 23 at Beaumont Hospital in Troy, a spokesperson for the hospital said.

“It was very emotional because at that point it had been three weeks since their birth,” Jennifer told Good Morning America. “It felt like I gave birth and they were just gone.”

Despite the fact that she’d been socially distancing in her home for about a week, Jennifer first began experiencing coronavirus symptoms like shortness of breath on March 19, according to the spokesperson.

Andre, meanwhile, began developing symptoms more severe than Jennifer’s on March 24.

Jennifer’s water broke on April 2, while she was 32 weeks pregnant with the twins she and her husband conceived through IVF, the spokesperson said. As they prepared to head to the hospital, Andre, who has asthma, began coughing and gasping for breath, leading Jennifer to drive herself to the hospital and leave Andre at home with her brother, GMA reported.

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“I looked back at Andre not knowing if I would ever see him again,” Jennifer said, according to the spokesperson.

Both Jennifer and Andre received their positive coronavirus test results just minutes after her water broke, according to GMA.

She gave birth the next day, though her sons were immediately taken away to the NICU and Jennifer was placed in quarantine.

For the next 20 days, she saw her newborns only through video chat.

“I couldn’t have done it without my nurses at Beaumont, Troy,” she said, according to the spokesperson. “Isolation was incredibly lonely and depressing. My nurse held my hand and wasn’t afraid to touch me. She cheered me and encouraged me.”

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After a long three weeks, Jennifer and Andre were finally cleared to meet their twins, who both tested negative for COVID-19, on April 23.

Little Mitchell went home two days later, while Maksim is set to come home sometime this week, the spokesperson said.

“I just want people to take this virus seriously and not take your loved ones for granted, that’s for sure,” Jennifer told GMA. “My heart goes out to all the people who don’t have a happy ending.”

As of Tuesday afternoon, there have been at least 38,000 cases and 3,400 deaths attributed to coronavirus in Michigan, according to The New York Times. There have been at least 988,000 cases and 50,000 deaths in the U.S.

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