Meet Amelia & Caroline - Phoebe Foundation CMN Feature
Meet Amelia & Caroline
"It was so comforting to know that they were taking the best care of the girls and loving them when I was unable to do so."
Kimberly had been on bed rest for 7 weeks, pregnant with twin girls, when she caught a stomach bug that sent her into labor. Kimberly and Ryan rushed to the hospital and the doctors did everything possible to keep the twins from coming. Around 8:30 p.m., the doctors realized they needed to deliver the twins and they prepped Kimberly for an emergency C-section at 27 weeks.
Amelia was born at 9:06 weighing 2.1lbs and Caroline right behind her at 9:07 weighing 2.0 lbs. The girls did not make a sound and they were immediately rushed to the NICU to be intubated because neither could breathe on their own. Because Kimberly was recovering from surgery, she wasn't able to see her girls until 3:00 in the morning. They were about as long as a dollar bill, had no eyelashes & were mostly skin and bones.
The next day, Kimberly and Ryan met with the neonatologist and were told the possible outcomes for the girls, which ranged from death to being completely healthy. Amelia and Caroline had holes in their hearts that were thankfully closed with medication. Caroline got an infection and had to be put on the oscillator and both had several scares of necrotizing enterocolitis, which is the dying of the intestines.
Kimberly describes their experience as a roller coaster, feeling like they would take two steps forward, then one step back. When the girls were two weeks old, Kimberly and Ryan were finally able to hold them. Three weeks in later, things stabled out and both girls were finally breathing with just the help of a nasal cannula. When Kimberly was finally able to help feed the girls, she was instructed on how to give them a bottle. If the girls weren't held the correct way, they would stop breathing.
After nine weeks in the NICU, the girls were sent home together, which is rare for twins, and they have been best friends ever since. The girls experienced developmental delays until age 2, but caught up after that and have had no serious complications since their time in the NICU. Today, Amelia and Caroline are happy eleven year olds and stay busy with school, dance, tennis, and spending time with friends.
Kimberly and Ryan survived their hard time in the NICU by clinging to their faith in God and the encouragement and care of the NICU doctors and nurses. “The NICU staff was so loving and caring. It's a hard thing to leave the hospital without your babies and they made a hard situation better. It was so comforting to know that they were taking the best care of the girls and loving them when I was unable to do so.” Amelia and Caroline are precious miracles that Kimberly and Ryan could never imagine their life without!
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For more information, call Phoebe Foundation at 229-312-4483 or toll-free at 877-312-4483. You can also email Phoebe Foundation at padouglas@phoebehealth.com.
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