Miracle Mum, Reily share's her twins' story.

"At 23 years old the last thing I thought I would experience is premature birth. My twins were born at 27+5 weeks.

My pregnancy became high risk at around 20 weeks when one baby was a lot smaller than the other. After ruling out twin to twin transfusion syndrome I was told that my twins were experiencing selective intertwine growth restriction causing the blood flows to become reverse and then absent; meaning twin 1 wasn’t receiving anything from my placenta causing her to be in great danger.

I was seen at my normal high risk appointment at 25 weeks to be told it’s gone from bad to worse and my babies need to be delivered ASAP. Thankfully steroids were given and I was able to carry them for another two weeks. During those two weeks I was at the hospital daily getting ultrasounds to check on the babies and ECG monitoring. The decision was made that it was no longer safe for twin 1 to be inside and I needed to deliver.

Delivered by C-section, my miracles were born at 11:52am Mayzie weighing 495 grams and 11:54am Charli weighing 800 grams. Both girls were taken straight to the NICU and both were put on C-PAP. Mayzie was on C-PAP for 24 hours untill her lungs began to give up and she needed to be intubated for 23 days, before going back to C-PAP. Charli slowly worked her way from C-PAP to high flo then to no support at all.

Mayzie loved to try everything - High flo, Low Flo & Air vo. Charli spent 86 long days in the NICU before being discharged on her due date of the 24th of October 2020. It truly was bitter sweet leaving my daughter in this big cold hospital all on her own but I also had to enjoy my little girl at home. Our reality was back and forth multiple times a day up to see our little girl.

At the beginning of December Mayzie was transferred by nets to Royal Women’s Hospital in Randwick for a hernia repair and was hard for us as parents to watch our little girl get wheeled into theatre. The next week Charli had her hernia repair at Westmead and I was all alone, because due to COVID, the nurse took my baby and off they went. Both Mayzie and Charli recovered well from the surgeries; it truly blows my mind how resilient premature babies are.

Finally it was time for early discharge for Mayzie girl after a LONG 121 days in hospital; she joined us at home with her family on home oxygen. It truly was a long hard haul to get our babies home and I truly admire every family that has to experience it. I never knew much about premature birth and now it’s something that I will forever hold close to my heart and support other families as they begin their journey.

Watching my children at home together, grow and learn every day, is the best feeling ever. To all the families out there still experiencing NICU life, I know it feels like their is never a light at the end of the tunnel, but I promise you there is. I hope my story brings hope to families. It’s crazy how strong our little babies really are."

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