‘Last two years have been my most difficult but I have reason to smile’

A glance from her daughter Favour hours after a gruelling surgery not only redeemed Caroline Mukiri’s hope but also gave her a boost of strength.

Favour opened her eyes and gazed at her mother only hours after she and her twin, Blessing, underwent an arduous 23-hour-surgery to separate them — 24 months after they were born conjoined at the lower back.

“I could see her eyes dart around the room and she was overly playful despite being wrapped in bandages,” Caroline says.

On the other hand, Blessing was sound asleep. “It was as if she was having her beauty sleep,” Caroline says between gentle smiles.

It was evidently a new dawn for the young mother and her two little girls as they embarked on a new journey (for Blessing and Favour, Wednesday marked the beginning of living separately while for their mother, it was the start of bringing up the girls individually).

“I have never taken care of individual babies. I was so used to taking care of them together,” Caroline says.

Blessing and Favour Mukiri are Siamese twins, born physically connected to each other at their lower backs, also known as the sacrum, a triangular bone in the lower back situated between the two hipbones of the pelvis.

For 790 days, the 29-year-old mother of two has clung on hope of holding her children separately, a dream that came true on Wednesday when doctors at Kenyatta National Hospital successfully separated the girls.

But it has not been an easy task. Being a first time mother, Caroline always yearned to hold her baby after the nine months. The thought of the father of the baby leaving her notwithstanding, she managed to pull through the months, making meagre salary from her hairdressing job at Makutano in Meru.

However, what she did not know was that she was not only going to have twin babies but also that her children would be conjoined.

“When I went for my first scan at seven months of pregnancy, the doctor told me that I was going to have twins. And although I was only prepared for one baby, I was happy to know that I was carrying two,” she says.

FLASHING DREAMS

However, as days went by, she started having dreams (which would later turn out to be true) that her babies were conjoined.

“I was not sure why I kept having those flashing dreams but it propelled me to go back to the doctor, who assured me that the babies were normal.
“Despite that re-assurance, I sought a second opinion from a different hospital because I had a strong conviction that there was something wrong with the children.”

But even at the second hospital, she was assured that her children were healthy. Her worst fears were, however, confirmed on the day of delivery when the doctor walked into the maternity ward to break the news.

“Like every mother, I only wanted to know that they were in perfect health. I was not ready for contrary information,” she recalls.

Caroline delivered her children at Kiirua Mission Hospital in Meru, weighing 5.2 kilos. Although doctors had anticipated a caesarean section, she had a normal delivery.

But the reality of the children being deformed which culminated with them finding a new home at KNH hit her hard.

“I had sleepless nights wondering what I did wrong to deserve such punishment. To think that I was already straining to make ends meet, only for God to pile another burden on me...” says the hairdresser, while fighting back tears.

Caroline and her newborn babies were immediately transferred from Meru County to KNH where she has been for the last two years and two months.

It is at KNH that she watched Blessing and Favour live their first years of life.

“I was with them right from the new born unit to the surgical ward where they started walking and talking.”

The two girls’ growth became synchronised that whereas Caroline adapted to bringing them up attached to each other, she also faced a few hurdles.

For instance, she while one wanted to sleep, the other would be awake and therefore she would be forced to lull her to sleep too.

“At times one would want to play and the other one was not up to it.”

Even dressing them was difficult. “Dressing them was the difficult part because whereas I wanted to dress them and let the dress fit like normal babies, it was not possible…but at least I tried.”

Once in a while, she would despair on ever having the girls separated.

“Nurturing your children in the hospital ward is not the same as being with them at home. I would often walk out of the ward to forget even just for a little bit that I had this problem. But once I walked back in, it stuck out like a sore thumb,” Caroline adds, saying that the girls even learnt to pray for her.

Signing the consent form to hand over the girls to the surgeons was not an easy task especially with the imminent fear of the surgery going wrong, adds Caroline.

“I thank God that now I can afford to smile. When I walked into KNH, I was in tears…therefore the far that we have come, it is all because of God’s blessings,” she says as she walks towards the critical care unit where the girls are recuperating.

Asked if she would want to have more children in the future, Caroline says: “If it is up to me, the two are just enough but you never know God’s plan. I am not even considering marriage at this point any more.”