In 2013, Lisa Rubino and her husband, Micheal, took Lily and Hannah to Disney World to celebrate their fifth birthday. But Lisa explained that there was a time when she was not sure if her daughters would reach this milestone.

The twins were born 12 weeks early in 2007, weighing in at 2 pounds, 8 ounces. In the three months that they spent in the Newborn Intensive Care Unit at Winthrop University Hospital, the girls endured surgeries, phototherapy, breathing treatments and blood transfusions.

Lisa noted that, for a while, it was hard to talk with friends who were pregnant at the same time as her. When their daughters came home from the hospital, Lisa’s did not. Lisa was no longer pregnant when her pre-planned baby shower came around. And some of the happiness associated with being a first-time mom was taken away from her by the stressful situation.

“No first time parent should have to go through that and no child should go through that,” she said. “Sometimes you wish for something and the carpet is pulled out from underneath you. But I have a surviving story, and I am grateful for that.”

But one year later, Lisa said things turned around when she first heard about the March of Dimes from one of her husband’s friends. By 2009, the Rubinos took their twins to the walk at Eisenhower Park in wagons, adorned with a picture of them in the hospital and the caption, “Look how far we’ve come.”

At the walk and through volunteerism with the charity, Lisa said she began to meet other mothers of premature babies. She said the experience of talking with them and listening to their stories was life-changing – which she has advocated for a support team to be put in place at Winthrop.

“We’re a community; we were just there for each other,” she said. “Now we all just realize they are growing, maturing and thriving children. We know what we went through, we know how we survived and we know what we need to do to make sure that no one else has to have that experience.”

Lisa said this is why she decided to become an ambassador and share her family’s story with others before last year’s walk. The Rubinos raised $1,900 as a family team, which was named “Sweet Pea Loverbutters” – a term of endearment Lily and Hannah’s parents use to describe their miracles.

As ambassadors, the Rubinos met families from across Long Island and lobbied in Albany for a law that would require facilities to screen newborns for critical congenital heart defects. Their March of Dimes work is far from over, however. Whether it is fundraising for this year’s walk or working to organize a walk at John G. Dinkelmeyer Elementary School, where Lily and Hannah are now in first grade, the Rubinos say they know the March of Dimes will be a part of their lives for a very long time.