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Dear Friends,
Lucy and I are overjoyed to announce the birth of our three beautiful baby girls on Monday June 3rd. Please join us in welcoming:
Astra Chen McLean
Ion Chen McLean
Kaya Chen McLean
Lucy displayed incredible strength and resilience throughout the pregnancy and delivery. She had an emergency cerclage placed at 20 weeks and was on strict bed rest, taking things day by day during a scary and uncertain time. Despite the challenges, Lucy successfully carried the triplets to 32 weeks 0 days - the latest date doctors recommended for her scheduled C-section. Lucy is recovering well from the incredible ordeal of the pregnancy and delivery.
Our little fighters did amazingly well during the delivery. We heard their strong cries as they entered the world and even got to see all three together a few seconds after birth, a profoundly moving experience. The wonderful NICU doctors and nurses are optimistic about the girls' progress given their gestational age.
Ion, who has faced extreme fetal growth restriction, was born at less than the 1st percentile in size. Her sisters were closer to the 50th percentile. Ion will need some extra time in the NICU to grow stronger, but she is already showing her mighty spirit. All the girls look adorable even with their current breathing support.
I felt a deep transformation when I had an hour of holding time with Astra and Kaya when they were 1 day old, and I held Ion after 2 days. Lucy and I plan to spend much more time with them in the NICU as Lucy regains more of her strength.
We feel deeply blessed to have three new sacred little lives to devote ourselves to. After many months of preparation for potentially challenging NICU life, we are grateful the girls are doing better than we had dared to hope, and we are ready to embrace the joys and challenges of being parents to these amazing triplets.
Thank you so much to everyone who has provided or offered support, love, and care - we've added some details below some support options we welcome. We hope you are all doing well and we look forward to introducing you to Astra, Ion, and Kaya someday soon. Feel free to leave a message below!
With love and gratitude,
Brayden & Lucy
June 5th 2024
To us, the name Astra represents the light of the stars, the expanse of the universe, and all the unknown that humanity has yet to explore. I hope this name grants a spirit of discovery, of wonder, and of pursuit of things beyond our comprehension.
Ion - 888g (2lb)
Ion - 888g (2lb)
Ion represents the charge and energy of our physical world. Small but powerful, I hope this name grants a spirit of curiosity toward understanding of the nature of the reality of our world. Ion also echos our dream of the Horizon, the border of our line of sight beyond which adventure and the unknown await discovery.
Kaya - 1535g (3.4lb)
Kaya - 1535g (3.4lb)
Kaya represents the love of humanity, of relationships and of what humans have built together. I hope this name grants a connection to your true inner self and and a connection to the lessons carried since the roots of humanity, such that the ties from the history of life in this universe can ground our future flourishing into the unknown.
Support
Support
Thanks to everyone's immense kindness and offers of support we are already feeling quite prepared, financially, emotionally, and logistically, but are lacking in time, which we expect to take a toll on being able to keep mama and dad fed ourselves.
If you find yourself in a position of abundance, proximity to Berkeley, and interest in supporting, we will be accepting cooked meals, which we expect to benefit greatly from after transitioning to full time care at home. Sign up via this meal train link. If you have a few hours to help out around our home in the subsequent months after the girls are home then we have a sign-up interest list here.
We also welcome anyone considering a donation to the Educate Girls charity in the name of the girls.
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