Miracle Mum, Khushi lets her twins Moksh and Mivaan tell the story of their arrival and survival.

"Our lovely mum was flaunting her tummy and clicking pictures in the morning four days after she was admitted to the hospital for precautionary reasons, if we decided to come early. Little did she know that it would be the last time she would be clicking that picture with us inside. Little did she know about our plans that we were going to make our grand entry that same night at 27 weeks.

Yes, we were born at 27 weeks for reasons unknown. Medical staff could not figure out what exactly happened but my mom had ruptured membrane since week 23, which was not picked up even through tests until she started bleeding 27 weeks. No sign of infection, no membrane stretch - no known reasons. Everyone was positive that she would be able to push it through and things were normalising. She had her scan in the morning and everything looked ok, apart from low water levels inside the sac due to a constant leak since 23 weeks. She was advised to stay on bed rest until delivery. There was a relief after beign told this and she thought we weren’t being too naughty and were sitting tight. She also was given a surprise sneak peek with a 4D scan to see how we look - considering she wasn’t allowed to leave the hospital.

A lot happened on this day; from mum’s last pregnancy picture, an ultrasound scanning appointment, and a tour of the NICU. Yes, she was given a tour of the NICU (Neonatal intensive care unit) just incase she delivered early. This tour was one of a kind and she says she still remembers this tour as if it happened yesterday. Behind those NICU doors there was a different world altogether. No one ever images how much of around the clock care goes into it. All you can see is incubators, monitors, ventilators, medical staffs and so much more. It is overwhelming to see those tiny humans taped all over them just to help them breath, just to keep them alive. But, I must say the tour really put mum and dad’s mind at ease. Mum new instantly that she was in the best hands in case things went haywire.

Later in the afternoon she suddenly felt something wasn’t right, but still continued to remain calm and relaxed preparing for her baby shower. Yes, a baby shower. Mum was going to miss her original baby shower because she couldn’t leave the hospital and she was sad she couldn’t do it anymore - so the nurses decided to organise her a baby shower in the hospital. They even booked the room and were deciding on the guest list. However, things changed in the evening when she was rushed to the delivery suite as her cervix had dilated to 5cm and in no time twin one decided to move to the exit.

There we were born at 27 weeks, we were just 1240gms and 860gms. This world was overwhelming for us. We were welcomed with lots of pricks, fears, uncertainties and tears and yes a pair of cool sunglasses. Lots of tubes to help us breath and lots of monitors to check our numbers. The sound of the monitors still doesn’t fade, in fact it became part of our life for a long time. We were trying to hold ourselves together and at the same time trying to figure out the scent and the touch of our loved ones. Mumma used to sit next to us 24/7 watching our every move to remind us that we had to breath, to remind us that we had to fight for our survival, to remind us that there is this beautiful world waiting to welcome us.

A scent so known, a touch so warm, a feeling so cosy came through the mechanical world to give us our first touch.

We finally had our first cuddle with our dad; we had always heard him around our mum, talking to her, caring for her, talking to us - but now we finally got to smell him, feel his touch, feel his heartbeat. We got to hug him and express how much we missed him and how much we love him. We forgot all our pain as soon as we were in his arms, we almost forgot the nasty wired world around us, we almost lost the noise of constant beeps; we felt home. This was also the first time we, as brothers, both came so close to each other as you see we were in different rooms for so many months. This cuddle is called kangaroo care where parents are allowed to bring the babies out of their cot and give them a skin to skin cuddle. This not only is crucial for babies but even for parents. For babies, it soothes them, improves breathing patterns, helps in controlling the cortisol levels, it makes them feel home. For parents, it has been proven to improve the bond between them, it helps to promote milk production in mums and so much more.

We spent 86 days in the hospital with uncountable ups and downs, multiple surgeries for removal of a cyst as one of us was diagnosed with Subglottic Stenosis in interior and exterior vocal box; but there was a light at the end of the tunnel which was not visible at the start but became evident as the time passed and we were blessed to see that light. Though one of us came home on oxygen for few months after, we are doing perfectly alright. We also received personal allied health care with physiotherapy, dietician, speech therapy, occupational therapy, and an infant feeding team. Thanks to this we are thriving in this beautiful world.

We are now 20 months old and accomplishing every developmental milestones. We were little and our world was big but we weren’t afraid because we had our peeps. We will forever be thankful to NICU, scubu and picu health professionals and others for giving us this life and will do everything in our power to give back as much we can.

Thank you Miracle Babies Foundation for being a backbone and for everything you are doing."

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