When Camilla and Eloise were born 28 weeks early, life-saving equipment provided by the Humpty Dumpty Foundation helped them survive and now thrive as healthy one-year-olds. Parents Stuart and Tara tell their story.
We have just celebrated the very special first birthday of our twin baby girls Eloise and Camilla, an occasion that brought happy tears to our eyes. This time last year, the circumstances were vastly different. We unexpectedly gave pre-term birth to two tiny ‘28 weekers,’ spending every waking moment for three months in the Royal North Shore Hospital (RNSH) neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) praying our twins would survive. We were living a nightmare.
We are lucky, as our story has a happy ending, but for a long time we didn’t know if we would leave the hospital with none, one or two babies. It was the hardest time of our lives.
At only 28 weeks into the pregnancy, a routine scan showed that we had become high-risk for pre-term birth, as Tara’s cervix had shortened substantially. As it had been a normal pregnancy until that point, we were shocked, uncertain, stressed and on high alert. That same day, we rushed to RNSH late at night when Tara had feelings of discomfort and a strong sense that something was not right. Upon arrival, it was confirmed that Tara’s waters had broken, and she was already 4 centimetres dilated. What is normally a moment of immense joy for new parents was extremely scary for us as the girls were only 28 weeks old.
“The girls were hooked up to so many pieces of equipment through wires, cannulas, tubes and breathing snorkels which covered most of their little bodies.”
Things took a downward turn quickly, and it was no longer scheduled to be a normal birth. A category one emergency caesarean section saw our tiny twins come into this world a mere 15 minutes later, weighing only one kilogram each. Babies at that gestation are by no means ready for the outside world; they cannot breathe on their own, they cannot self-regulate temperature as they have no fat on their bodies, their skin is almost transparent and the list of things that are under-developed is endless. At birth, Camilla was resuscitated and both twins were immediately placed in humidicribs as well as a host of other life-support equipment. It was a terrifying night which continued for three months in the NICU.
Life in the NICU for us lasted 76 days and in that time, progress was very slow. The analogy of two steps forward followed by one step back is very applicable to any stay in the NICU. We sat with our babies all day every day staring at them with overwhelming love and admiration at their sheer resilience, while at the same time living with intense stress and fear from the constant alarms which sounded as oxygen, heart rate or breathing was too slow or too fast.
The girls were hooked up to so many pieces of equipment through wires, cannulas, tubes and breathing snorkels which covered most of their little bodies.
While all this was distressing, this meant that our babies had the most incredible set up of state-of the-art equipment, a lot of it supplied by the Humpty Dumpty Foundation, supporting their every breath and heartbeat. It kept them alive and enabled them to grow over the next three months as if they were still in mummy’s tummy.
The medical equipment and incredible care our babies received from the NICU nurses and doctors twenty-four hours a day are the reason our babies are alive today and thriving as little one-year-olds.
Extreme prematurity is a nightmare situation for a parent, and it’s difficult for us to think about and re-live those three months in the NICU. However, when we do, we often reflect on how lucky our family is that the RNSH NICU had the lifesaving medical equipment provided by Humpty Dumpty, personnel and resources on-hand and ready to protect and keep our little girls safe.
The care we received was unbelievable. While the twins were in intensive care, they had their own nurse each 24 hours per day. The specialist doctors performed rounds twice a day to check vitals and progress or any deterioration. The doctors were camped just outside the twins’ room ready to be there as soon as needed.
We arrived unannounced with two very sick babies, and because of the staff and medical equipment available, our twins had the absolute best chance of survival. We will be forever grateful to the Humpty Dumpty Foundation and its donors for their enduring support of sick children and the equipment they provide to hospitals all across Australia.
Our little twins, Camilla and Eloise, benefitted first-hand from the Humpty Dumpty Foundation and we strongly believe it’s one of the reasons they beat the odds of extreme prematurity and have grown into happy and healthy babies.
With thanks to Tara Prowse and Stuart Pollard.