Constable: For this couple, stay-at-home Mother's Day has joy first one did not

For her first Mother's Day as a mom last year, Hallie Kuciunas received a sculpture from her husband, Travis, that illustrated their love, their family bond, and their crushing heartbreak.

The sculpture, which he had custom-made for her, features the two of them in a family embrace with their twins, son Forrest and daughter Bailey, each sporting angel wings. The premature babies were born dead on Sept. 29, 2018. The grieving new parents held their little bodies, and cried.

There probably will be tears for Hallie and Travis on this Mother's Day, too.

“She's our light at the end of the storm,” Hallie says of the couple's healthy daughter, Violet Elizabeth Kuciunas, who was born at 11:47 a.m. March 1. “I'm a mom of three, but two can't be here with me. The same doctor who delivered them (Forrest and Bailey) delivered Violet, so it's kind of a circle-of-life thing.”

Hallie's second Mother's Day in their Westmont home will be celebrated under a cloud of COVID-19, which the mom calls “terrifying and really inconvenient.” The three of them plan to spend the day sheltering at home, without the fun of having grandparents, a great-grandma and other relatives and friends gushing about how cute Violet is and jockeying to see who gets to hold her next. But there will be joy.

“As soon as the baby came out, she and I burst into tears,” says the 31-year-old dad. “It was almost like relief because of what we had gone through before.”

Travis got to be with Hallie in the delivery room at Northwestern Medicine Central DuPage Hospital in Winfield before all hospitals began restricting visitors because of COVID-19.

“She was born right before the lockdown started,” says Hallie, noting most of the coronavirus conversations then were just speculation. “I was aware of it, but it was sort of in the background. Be aware. Wash your hands. It was nothing like it is now.”

The family was able to get some photos of Violet being held in the hospital by relatives. Great-grandma Sandy “Mimi” Johnson came from Indiana with Travis' mom, Terry Kuciunas, who drove in from Nashville, Tennessee. Travis' sister, Alyssa, and father, Todd Kuciunas, got their chances to hold Violet. So did Hallie's parents, Todd and Carrie Niewold, who live in Downers Grove.

Since staying-at-home regulations went into effect, Violet has spent all her time with only her mom and dad.

No one swings by to babysit so Travis and Hallie can eat at a restaurant or see a movie, because no one has been able to eat inside a restaurant or go to a theater. They won't go out to celebrate Hallie's 29th birthday later this week. Even this Mother's Day will be spent at home, just mother, father and Violet.

“There really aren't any plans. It's kind of sad, but we'll be able to celebrate as a little family,” Hallie says.

“We're staying home, making a nice meal and spending the day together,” Travis says. “That's about it.”

There was a time when the couple were looking forward to celebrating Hallie's first Mother's Day as a mom.

“Twins run in the family. We were super excited,” Hallie remembers. But at 20 weeks, Hallie went into labor.

“When we got to the hospital, both of them had heartbeats,” says the mom.

After Bailey was stillborn, “We truly had hope that at least Forrest would be alive,” Hallie remembers. Instead, the couple got to hold their twins' tiny bodies and say goodbye.

“We did celebrate their lives because I am a mom. There were more tears shed,” Hallie says of last year's Mother's Day. “Whenever I see cardinals in the yard, I think it's them.”

Violet was a healthy 7 pounds, 14 ounces and 21½ inches long at birth. Now she's 13 pounds. To make sure she stays healthy, Travis wears gloves and a mask for his maintenance job with the Downers Grove Park District, then comes home, showers and changes clothes before he sees his wife and daughter.

“And I've got hand sanitizer at all times,” he says.

The memory of their first sad Mother's Day as parents will be part of this year's celebration. The lost twins are part of who they are.

“We're really going to remember them,” Travis says. “And celebrate Violet, too.”