After giving birth to identical twin boys during the pandemic mom Francennett was in for the ride of her life. The Escaramuza charra rider (the name for female riders in the Mexican rodeo) was used to hard work and long hours riding her horse at the family ranch in Beecher, Illinois.

“It’s always been my therapy,” she says.

But she didn’t know what to expect when her twin boys Xavier and Damien were born at 25 weeks.

“It was traumatic.”

Her son Damien was so fragile she didn’t get to hold him for three months.

After almost a year in the neonatal intensive care unit, she had to search far and wide for a pediatrician who was willing to treat her boys’ complex medical conditions. She was relieved to find Dr. Edith Chernoff at La Rabida.

The family is now part of the Premier Kids Clinic. The family is seen by their primary care pediatrician, and also receives an array of supportive services including nutrition, feeding support, and infant development services.

Getting so many coordinated services at one time has been great, she says, especially because car travel with two technology dependent twins can be tough.

“In our culture we love our kids and we are very family-oriented,” she says. We want to do everything we can for them.”

La Rabida, she says, is helping her do just that.