Female: Michael and Jacob Cheetah are celebrating their second birthday. Seeing them indulge in celebratory cupcakes would bring a smile to anyone’s face. But it's even more of a celebration because not so long ago, these happy, healthy little boys were terribly sick and fragile.
The twins due date was supposed to be Halloween day, October 31st. but this anticipate treat was turned into a frightening trick of fate when instead they were born on July 9th, nearly four months early.
Becky: Mike as was one pound five ounces and Jake was one pound 12 ounces.
Female: Making the transition from living in the womb to surviving in the world was rough for Mike and Jake. For several weeks, they were treated in small plicksy glass isolets. During that time their parents Becky and Brian Cheetah thought pretty familiar with the halls of children’s hospital in St. Paul Minnesota.
Brian: It's taking a lot of patience to go through this. It's been longer than I thought it would be. I mean we figured it would be three months but it seems like there’s 30 hours on the day sometimes.
Female: The boys went through several surgeries, ample antibiotics and numerous needle sticks during their 16 week stay at the neonatal intensive care unit. And though they hadn’t met her yet, the twins had seen their older sister Katie just about everyday, thanks to her photo mom and dad had brought from home.
Trying to comfort the babies took the edge of the fact that they were hooked up to so many machines and monitors.
Becky: When they were born at 25 weeks, I kept thinking to myself that well, I can't supply them with everything that they need. These lines are doing it for me and that’s a good thing.
It's hard to fathom just how small these boys once were.
Becky: That was like holding a feather. My husband put his wedding ring on Michael’s arm and it went all the way up to his shoulder. And now, you can't even fit it over his hand. You know and that's 10 weeks later, it's pretty interesting.
Female: Premature birth stories similar to the Cheetah’s are becoming more common according to studies done by the American College of Obstetricians and gynecologists and the March of Dimes. An organization dedicated to preventing premature births. Jennifer House serves as its president.
Jennifer: Premature birth is a common costly and serious problem every year out of four million newborns about 475,000 of them are born premature.
Female: The March of Dimes helps provide comfort and support for families with children in neonatal intensive care units. It’s precisely what families need when dealing with a condition that may result in life long consequences.
Jennifer: Some of the more severe consequences are mental retardation, cerebral palsy, blindness, vision impairment and various other neurological defects.
Female: Though many of the causes of premature birth are unknown some of the risk factors are multiple pregnancy, having a previous history of preterm labor, low pregnancy weight, smoking or being of an ethnic minority. Dr. Judy Nigh specializes in maternal-fetal medicine at Abbot North Western Hospital in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Dr. Nigh treated the Cheetah’s years ago when they had lost triplets.
Dr. Nigh: The earlier the previous one happened, the higher the chances that the patient will have another preterm delivery. But unfortunately 40% of people who are pregnant, are pregnant with their first so that doesn’t help you.
Female: What does help is knowing how to prevent preterm delivery. Obstetricians may prescribe ways to help reduce contractions and patients maybe advised to cut back on some of their normal daily activities.
Dr. Nigh: I tell them to be a slug. That means you don’t really have to scrub every surface in your house. Nobody ever died of a dirty house. You'll have plenty of time to get back in shape after the babies are born.
Female: Rest didn’t come naturally to Becky. Her regular routine to reduce stress includes several miles of running everyday. Telling a marathon runner to take it easy is no simple task.
Dr. nigh: It might depend a little bit on how long they’ve been trying to get pregnant and what they had to go through to get there.
Female: For Becky, running wasn’t as important as the quest to see a swing set filled with smiling children.
Becky: With the boys I stopped running as soon as I found out I had twins and that was at six weeks along. I just stopped, cold turkey.
Female: But even the best efforts may not prevent premature delivery and the heartache that can come with it.
Dr. Nigh: The sickest patients in the world are 500 grams babies in the NICU. And if you're the mom of that 500 gram baby who tries to die three-four times a day, it's very, vey difficult. It's an emotional rollercoaster.
Female: Those were tough and trying times but while their sons fought to stay alive in the NICU, Becky and Brian remained positive about the health of their sons.
Brian: I think that in a year or two, they’re going to end up just being like any other kid. I think if we could have that happen, that would be good.
Female: By all accounts, Brian’s wish for the boys has come true. Their diving into life enjoying every minute and getting stronger as each day passes and big sister Katie is great at helping mom and dad take care of the boys.
Brian: You know they each have a couple of battle scars from their surgeries and stuff. That will just be memories of you know what it was like and they won't even remember it hopefully, you know but we just kind of go on.
Female: For now, the whole family will go on living what has finally become a much more normal life.
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