Chicago-Robert and Toni Rucker are proud to be parents of their twin sons Terrence and Quincy.  Like many parents, the Ruckers tried to conceive for a few years, and consequently were thrilled when they realized they were expecting twins.  However, after only 25 weeks and six days of gestation, Toni gave birth to her beautiful twin boys.  The Ruckers courage, dedication, and willingness to share their story are just some of the reasons they have been named the March of Dimes 2006 Chicago Lakefront Ambassador Family for WalkAmerica.

            During the 24th week of her pregnancy, Toni began to experience severe back pain.  She became concerned, and her doctor told her she had begun to dilate.  She was hospitalized for four days and given steroids to stop her contractions.  After returning home, she was restricted to bed rest for 90% of the day.

            A week and a half later, Toni had severe stomach cramps and arrived at the hospital at 7:00 a.m. that morning.  She was told she hadn't dilated anymore than the one centimeter she was from the week and a half prior, however, by 11a.m. she had dilated to three centimeters.     

             The doctors told her women usually dilate to 10 centimeters before giving birth.  She was treated with magnesium sulphate to try to stop the contractions.   Unfortunately, it was not very effective.  By that afternoon, Toni had dilated to six centimeters and was rushed into the operating room for an emergency c-section.  At 6:52 p.m. she gave birth to Terrence and two minutes later to his brother Quincy at Northwestern Memorial Hospital.

              Terrence was 1lb.14 oz., and 13 ¾ inches long, while Quincy was 1lb. 15 oz, and 15 ¼ inches long.  Both boys were placed in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) and ventilated.  Toni stated:  “The only thing that got me through the NICU experience was taking it day by day and when that got too hard I took it one hour at a time.” 

               During the first few months the boys had to have various blood transfusions and Terrence had chronic lung problems, feeding issues, jaundice, reflux, three different major surgeries, retinopathy of prematurity, four hernias, and a blood infection that led to a spinal tap.  He spent a total of four months in the NICU, and Quincy spent 10 weeks. 

               Despite these hardships, the boys are now 2 ½ years old and doing very well although  Terrence is undergoing occupational and developmental therapy to strengthen his speech.  The Rucker family hopes to inspire other families undergoing similar circumstances by telling their story and being an Ambassador family.

              There is no known cause for 50% of the babies who are born too soon.  That’s why the March of Dimes launched a nationwide prematurity campaign to raise public awareness about the problem and help fund research and education to decrease the rate of preterm birth.

              WalkAmerica is the March of Dimes largest national fundraiser.  The funds raised  will be used to help support research and education for the Prematurity Campaign.  There are six Walk sites in the Chicago land areas.  For walk locations and to find out how to participate in WalkAmerica, please call the March of Dimes at 1-800-244-WALK or online at http://www.walkamerica.org/

             The March of Dimes is a national voluntary health agency whose mission is to improve the health of babies by preventing birth defects, premature birth and infant mortality. Founded in 1938, the March of Dimes funds programs of research, community services, education, and advocacy to save babies and in 2003 launched a campaign to address the increasing rate of premature birth. For more information, visit the March of Dimes Web site at marchofdimes.com or its Spanish language Web site at nacersano.org.