Rock N’ Stroll co-chairs rally the community with a special song of their own
Kenny and Bonita Rubin with their twin daughters (Photo: Nick Lee)
Kenny Rubin, a 10-year board member of Leadership Sinai and currently on the Governing Council and his wife Bonita, a member of Moms for Sinai know first-hand the incredible specialized care mothers and babies receive at Mount Sinai Hospital. As co-chairs of the first-ever Rock N’ Stroll - a walk supporting high-risk births, their dedication to this cause runs deep.
After living with Crohn’s disease for most of her life, Bonita was referred to Dr. Hillary Steinhart a gastroenterologist at Mount Sinai Hospital, and underwent several procedures and treatment plans to stabilize her condition. When it came time to starting a family, Kenny and Bonita knew that they would require the clinical and research expertise in fertility and maternity care for which Mount Sinai is known for.
During their journey, as with so many couples these days, they faced the realities of what it would take to actually get pregnant. After seeing Dr. Ellen Greenblatt at Mount Sinai’s Centre for Fertility and Reproductive Health, they went through several procedures. After unsuccessful attempts Dr. Greenblatt quickly recommended in-vitro fertilization (IVF) which to their delight resulted in the news that they were expecting twins. The couple was ecstatic. Bonita always wanted to have kids by the time she was 32, and her babies were born 13 days before her 32nd birthday.
Because of Bonita’s Crohn’s and the fact that she was having twins, that made her pregnancy high risk. As a result, Bonita was vigilantly monitored, counseled and cared for by Mount Sinai’s Special Pregnancy Program. Under the guidance of Dr. Ann Malinowski, the team offered support as gestational diabetes, cholestasis and other complications occurred and also helped to alleviate the stress of managing her high-risk pregnancy by working around Bonita’s busy schedule. During the pregnancy, her Crohn’s remained stable under medication management, but at 31 weeks she experienced preterm premature rupture of membranes, or PPROM and was admitted and put on bed rest. A neonatologist came to walk her through the possibilities of what lay ahead. She was started on antibiotics to ward off infection, as well as steroids to mature the babies’ lungs as quickly as possible for an early delivery.
One of her wishes before she was admitted was to have maternity photos taken before the babies came to capture this special phase of her pregnancy, which she then made a reality in the hospital that very same day. After five days of labour, she finally delivered her babies at 32 weeks and 2 days by C-section.
“I don’t remember being scared,” said Bonita. “I felt very confident and comfortable with our care and the resources we had access to.”
Today, Kenny and Bonita have two healthy twins, 20-month old girls, and couldn’t have had a better ending to their story.
Now their story with Mount Sinai continues as volunteers, co-chairs of the hospital’s inaugural Rock N’ Stroll fundraiser taking place on September 28 in Earl Bales Park. This rock n’ roll themed event aims to rally the community to raise money for high-risk births with a 3km walk, activities, and entertainment for the whole family.
“We wanted to create an event where the cause is important, but also one where the focus was about an experience for families where everyone from all generations would have an amazing time,” said Kenny. “With Rock N’ Stroll we are also hoping to raise awareness of Mount Sinai’s leadership in patient care for high-risk obstetrics. The care Bonita received at Mount Sinai was actually amazing and to give back to a hospital we really believe in is a great a feeling.”
