Since the beginning, Suleidys wanted the babies. When she was diagnosed with triplets on March 22, she decided to go on, even though she already had her 11-year-old daughter, Sheyla.

Her husband, Rubisel Ortega, recalling that day, reflects: "What father looking for a second child, they tell him that three more are coming, and he does not get scared, does not he turn pale? I had to sit down, because I got scared, the truth. "

Soon Suleidys would begin to suffer from a nephrotic syndrome. When the nephrologist explained that it would be a very high risk pregnancy, even with danger to her life, she preferred his babies.
Faced with such a firm decision, doctors could not help but make every effort to ensure a happy end to the family.

A real love story

Rubisel and Suleidys have been together for 20 years. It all started when they were 15 and both studied at Manuel Ascunce pre-university. He graduated in Electrical Engineering; she graduated in Mathematics-Computing.

"We got married on December 9, 2005. We were in the last year of the university studies , and we lived alone, although we functioned as a marriage only on Saturday and Sunday. The girl was born in January 2007, " Rubisel remembers.

He, as an engineer in Electromedicine, served several medical missions: in Honduras, 2008 - 2010; in Bolivia, 2012 - 2014; and again from December 2016 to 2018.

"We had not had much time to conceive another child. In August 2016, we were going to have a second little girl, but with seven months she was diagnosed with a malformation, and it was necessary to interrupt the pregnancy. She was sad.

"In February 2018, while I was on vacation in Cuba, Suleidys got pregnant, this time with triplets. I had to return to Bolivia a few days later. I decided to rejoin the mission until I was 20 weeks old, the time established for admission, as it was a multiple pregnancy, a risk. "

On June 23, when Rubisel returned to Cuba, he found Suleydis admitted to the Comandante Ciro Redondo Hospital in Artemisa. "She had been there since May 14, in the Pregnant Ward. She suffered from high blood pressure and the doctors decided to hospitalize her. "

What kind of mess, my God!

Given this situation, Rubisel requested the end of the mission. "We are a small family. Her parents and their 90-year-old grandmother, and they live in Puerta La Güira; for mine, my parents, my sister and me, and we live in Las Cañas. She needed my support, my presence. We took her breakfast, lunch and dinner every day. In addition, Sheyla also required attention. "

Since then, Suleidys remained at the health center. Her pregnancy needed careful attention. The husband says that they performed complementary tests twice a week, nephrology, genetic ultrasounds every 15 days, both in the Diagnostic Means section of the hospital and in the Provincial Genetics Center, adjacent to the center. In the Gestant Ward they took his blood pressure three times daily.
What would be Rubisel´s surprise when on Saturday, September 15, when he arrived at the hospital at noon, he was informed of the transfer of his wife to Prenatal Care.

"High blood pressure figures appear, with an increase in creatinine, a worsening of the protenuria ... and it is decided, together with the obstetricians, to interrupt the pregnancy," explains Dr. Sureydis Ramos González, specialist in Nephrology, who together to colleague Alberto Arzola, attended to the patient.

"I could not risk my wife's health by giving the children more time. They had had lung maturation since 26 weeks, foreseeing such a situation. At 4:50 in the afternoon they told me that the three babies had been born well, and she was delicate, "narrates the father and, remembering it, can not help exhaling deeply.

Suleidys was transferred to the intensive care services, and the children to Neonatology. First Kevin Michel was born, with 1900 grams; then Dayron Leonel, with 2050 and Brayan Rubisel, with 1600.

"The youngest one went down to 1300, and they sent him to Iván Portuondo hospital, in San Antonio de los Baños. There he was from September 17 to October 9, until reaching the required weight for his return to Artemisa.

"I brought my wife's breakfast, lunch and dinner to Artemisa. When I returned to my house in Las Cañas, at 8:00 in the evening, I went to San Antonio. I arrived there around 9:15 or 9:30, and requested the evolution of the child. What kind of mess, my mother! "

Finally at home

After almost a month in Intensive Care, Suleidys remained in an isolated room, in Prenatal, to avoid infection due to environmental infections, because the treatment applied to kidney damage weakens the body's defenses.

During those days, Rubisel was often seen go the distance from there to the neonatology services, trying to be present for his wife and babies.

"When I went to see her she asked me a thousand things. He left to take her lunch and went through the nursery. It was almost always time to give them milk; then, I took the chance , I went in and helped the nurses to feed them. "

After almost six months of hospitalization in the Ciro Redondo, the mother is finally home with her babies. The family is grateful for the care offered at the center: "to the staff of the Diagnosis Media section (laboratory and ultrasound), of the pregnant and prenatal care rooms, of the delivery room, intensive care, neonatology services of both hospitals and the Provincial Genetics Center.

"Children have been very good . They have tolerated powder milk. We are providing vitamins to compensate for the absence of breast milk. In the case of Brayan, the smallest, he is injected to increase his hemoglobin. The neonatologist has explained to us that it is usual for this to happen in premature children, especially in their case, as the youngest of the three, "says Suleydis, who assumed her triplets as a blessing from the beginning.

Every day, from Monday to Friday, from 8:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m., nurse Gladys Rodríguez helps at home in the care of Kevin, Dayron and Brayan. Of course, Sheyla and the rest of the family also do their part in caring for the little ones, protagonists of a true filial love story.

TRANSLATION BY LMMS