On December 20, 2025, Bianca and Daniel Ruggiero welcomed triplets at St. Michael’s Hospital. It was a milestone that marked not only the beginning of a new chapter, but also the continuation of a journey defined by loss, resilience and a bond with their care team who stood with them through one of their hardest moments.

Two years before welcoming their triplets, Bianca and Daniel lost their twin daughters. During that heartbreaking time, a St. Michael’s nurse provided the type of compassionate care that stayed with them long after their tragic experience.

When Bianca and Daniel returned to the hospital for their second pregnancy, that connection still felt meaningful — so much so, that they named one of their triplets in her honour.

Redefining Parenthood

Bianca and Daniel welcomed their first children in 2023—twin daughters, Giuliana and Valentina, who sadly passed away, a natural event no one could have prevented. What should have been a day of pure joy became one defined by both deep love and profound loss.

“Our family looks a little different than what we imagined,” Bianca reflects. “It’s not the future we pictured or the one we hoped for, but it’s ours, and it’s full of love.”

Through their experience, they learned that parenthood doesn’t fit a singular definition. For Bianca and Daniel, becoming parents was not tied to holding a baby at home, it was bound to the love they carried, the daughters they mourned and the future they still hoped to build.

A New Chapter

Two years later when they learned they were expecting triplets, the moment was nothing short of overwhelming. “His mouth actually dropped,” Bianca says. “It felt like it was meant to be. A continuation of a story that began with the twins.”

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During her second pregnancy, Bianca and Daniel avoided dwelling on “what ifs” and instead chose to embrace each day with optimism. This time, hope was more cautious, but they made a conscious choice to stay present.

“For us, the happiness took over,” Bianca says. “We were grateful to be pregnant again, and we saw it as another blessing, especially after everything we had been through, and how long we had hoped for this after the twins.”

For Daniel, focusing on the pregnancy week by week helped steady the fear.

“The big thing for me was the milestones,” he says. “Each week we reached felt like a little bit of reassurance—like, okay, we’ve made it past that point. And when we got beyond 20 weeks, when we lost our twins, I finally felt like we had a safer path ahead.”

Returning Was Never a Question

When Bianca and Daniel first arrived at St. Michael’s with complications in their twin pregnancy more than two years ago, they were terrified. But almost immediately, they felt something shift.

“In that moment, we knew we were in the right place,” Bianca and Daniel say. “You could just tell the team was attentive and confident.”

When they learned they were expecting triplets, the decision to return was effortless. “I think we always knew St. Michael’s would be the hospital for us,” they say. “Not only because I’m high‑risk with multiples, but because of the connection we built during our journey with the twins.”

This time, the couple worked closely with their physician, Dr. Tatiana Freire-Lizama, Perinatologist at St. Michael’s Hospital, to ensure every possible layer of support was in place. It was important to them that their care team understood their past.

“People were making sure that whoever needed to be there, would be there,” Bianca recalls. “Seeing familiar faces from our last pregnancy made it feel right. It felt like this is how it should be.”

Their social worker, Brianna Nelson, played a key role too, helping ensure that everyone involved in their care was aware of their history. “It was an honour to support Bianca and Daniel,” Brianna says. “My goal as a social worker is to help clients feel cared for every step of the way. By trusting me with their lived experiences, they helped us put the right supports in place, from a tour of our Labour and Delivery floor before birth to connecting with my colleagues, Faiven and Alison, who collaborated to provide additional care.”

For the parents, the consistency, transparency and open dialogue they had with their team gave them reassurance. “They understood if I wasn’t ready to see the triplets or to use certain language, rather than saying things without consideration. Their patience, compassion, and gentleness, along with the respect they showed for our past and for the moment we were in, made it so much easier for us to navigate,” Bianca says.

Daniel says the couple also leaned on grief and peer-support groups, spaces where they didn’t have to explain the unexplainable.

“One thing I learned through those support groups is that unless you’ve lived through a loss like that, you don’t really understand it,” he says. “I used to tell Bianca that all the time, people won’t fully get what we went through, and that’s okay. What matters is not being ashamed of your past and carrying it forward in a way that helps you grow.”

Arrival of the Triplets

Leading up to the birth of the triplets, everything seemed to fall into place. After months of careful monitoring and collaborative planning, Bianca and Daniel felt supported by a team that understood their hopes for this pregnancy.

Shortly after Bianca was admitted for her planned C-section, the timeline shifted. What was supposed to be a couple more days of waiting suddenly became an urgent need. The babies were ready.

“It was two in the morning when they were born,” Daniel recalls. “Everything happened quickly, but the team kept us in the loop. I could tell everyone knew exactly what to do, walking us through it and making sure Bianca and the babies were taken care of.”

“They had the monitors on me to get the heart rates, and then the team noticed one of them dropped. Suddenly they were like, ‘We’re doing this now,’ and you could see everyone moving together—calling things out, getting ready, making sure the right people were in place.”

Moments later, Bianca and Daniel welcomed three new lives.

“I had to sit in this little hallway between Bianca’s surgery room and the room the babies would go into,” he says. “So, every time they opened the door to the surgery room, I could see things happening. There were so many people in there. And when a baby was born, I’d hear crying. They would bring one over, then I’d hear the next one. Bring that one over, then the third one. So, it was nice that I was close enough that I could experience that.”

A Family Shaped by Every Chapter

For Bianca and Daniel, choosing names for the triplets was an act of gratitude for the people who shaped their journey.

“It wasn’t like an epiphany or anything,” Bianca says. “But something just came over me. I remember thinking, you know what, I really like that name. And if I ever have a girl, that will be her name, and it will be because of this person.”

That person was the St. Michael’s nurse, Milena Olivia, who had cared for them during the birth and loss of their twins, someone whose compassion left an imprint Bianca and Daniel still carry to this day.

Milena says, “Bianca, Daniel, Giuliana, Valentina, Cristiano, Alessandro and Milena will always have a safe, special place in my heart. What a gift it’s been to be part of their story.”

“Having her as my nurse during the birth and loss of my twins made an impossible moment a little easier,” she says. “She went above and beyond, far beyond what her job required. When she took their handprints and footprints, she didn’t just do a few. She filled an entire legal‑sized sheet, trying again and again to get the best ones for us. That kind of care stayed with me. Leaving the hospital, I never forgot her.”

Bianca says, “Because of her, I always said to myself, if I’m pregnant with a girl, it must be that name. It represents the connection, the memory of the twins, bringing everything full circle.”

As Bianca and Daniel reflect on everything their family has carried, they say their understanding of parenthood has transformed completely.

“I think parenthood, for me, has expanded the definition of the word,” she reflects. “When I look at motherhood and fatherhood now, it’s not just the standard definition people usually think of. It’s shaped by lived experiences, by the moments that give those roles their meaning.”

For Bianca and Daniel, that meaning spans both the daughters they lost and continue to speak about, and the three little lives now growing in their arms.

A family shaped not by one chapter, but by all of them.

Welcome to the world, Cristiano, Alessandro and Milena!

This story is dedicated to Valentina and Giuliana from your parents who loved you dearly.

By Jade Vyfhuis