BIG DAY TOGETHER THIS WEEKEND. OH, HELLO. OH, CAN YOU SEE YOUR BROTHER? ONE MONTH SHY OF THEIR FIRST BIRTHDAY? FRATERNAL TWINS GAVIN AND WYATT GLAZE GIGGLE AND ROLL MILES STONES. THEIR MOTHER, MADISON, WASN’T SURE THEY WOULD REACH. THEY WERE THE SMALLEST BABIES I’VE EVER SEEN. 22 WEEKS INTO HER PREGNANCY, MADISON GAVE BIRTH EACH BOY WEIGHED ONLY A POUND. WHEN I WENT UP TO SEE THEM, I WAS LIKE, OH MY GOD, THERE’S NO WAY. THERE’S NO WAY. WE HAVE STRIVED OVER THE PAST COUPLE OF YEARS TO REALLY KIND OF SPECIALIZE IN THOSE SMALL BABIES. BRIGHAM AND WOMEN’S HOSPITAL CARES FOR BETWEEN 10 TO 20 BABIES BORN AT 22 WEEKS EACH YEAR. NOW, THEY CAN’T EVEN OPEN THEIR EYES AT THAT POINT, RIGHT? NO, THEIR EYES ARE FUZED AND THEY ACTUALLY START TO WORK THEM OPEN THEMSELVES. OVER THE FIRST FEW WEEKS, A COUPLE OF WEEKS OF OF LIFE, THEIR SKIN IS SO FRAGILE THAT SOME OF THE CHALLENGES THAT WE TALK ABOUT AND SOME OF WHAT WE’VE REALLY FOCUSED ON THIS PROGRAM, IS JUST HOW DO WE CARE FOR THE SKIN OF A BABY LIKE THIS? HOW DO WE ATTACH OUR MONITOR LEADS, FOR EXAMPLE, JUST SOME OF THE CHALLENGES IN TREATING INFANTS KNOWN AS MICRO PREEMIES. WE COME TOGETHER EVERY WEEK AS A TEAM TO REALLY FOCUS ON AND TRY TO LEARN FROM EVERY BABY THAT WE HAVE TO MAKE IT BETTER FOR THE NEXT BABY THAT COMES THROUGH. IT’S THAT POWER OF BELIEVING IN THESE BABIES THAT WE CAN DO THIS. THEY DO HAVE GOOD OUTCOMES. AND THAT’S, I THINK, WHERE MOTHER’S DAY FOR MADISON AND THE BOYS IS SO SPECIAL. IT’S KIND OF SURREAL. I THINK, UM, GOING FROM WHERE YOU DON’T KNOW IF THEY’RE GOING TO SURVIVE TO NOW THEY’RE BIG, CHUNKY, HAPPY BABIES. AND, YOU KNOW, WE GOT TO TAKE THEM HOME AND CELEBRATE EVERYTHING. THANKS TO THE STRENGTH OF THEIR MEDICAL TEAM DURING THEIR FIVE MONTH STAY IN THE NICU AND THEIR PARENTS, OF COURSE, THERE TOO YOUNG TO SAY IT YET, BUT WE KNOW IF THEY COULD, THEY’D WISH THEIR MOM A VERY HAPPY MOTHER’S DAY. JENNIFER EAG
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New Hampshire mom of premature twins born at 22 weeks to celebrate first Mother's Day
Fraternal twins Wyatt and Gavin Glaze giggled and rolled as they played on a mat with their mother, Madisen. On Thursday, the babies visited the NICU at Brigham and Women’s Hospital, where they lived the first five months of their lives after being born four months before their due date. “They were the smallest babies I’ve ever seen,” Madisen said. “When I went up to see them, I was like, ‘Oh my God, there’s no way. No way.’” The boys each weighed only one pound and were 10 inches long. Last June, Madisen was 22 weeks along in her pregnancy when they were born. “We have strived over the past couple of years to specialize in those small babies,” Dr. Elizabeth Flanigan, the Chief of Clinical Operations in the Department of Pediatrics at Brigham and Women’s, said. Brigham and Women’s treats between 10 and 20 babies born at 22 weeks each year. Infants born between 22 and 27 weeks gestation are known as micro-preemies. Caring for them carries significant challenges, including access to equipment that is small enough and dealing with their delicate skin. “Their skin is so fragile that some of the challenges that we talk about and some of what we have focused on this program is how do we care for the skin of a baby like this? How do we attach our monitor leads, for example,” Flanigan said.Flanigan and her team meet weekly to discuss each case and improve their treatment plans. “It’s not just about us providing medicine. If you take the time to listen to families and babies, the next baby will excel beyond what you have done,” NICU Medical Director Dr. Elisa Abdulhayoglu said. Wyatt and Gavin spent five months in the NICU before being discharged on Nov. 30. They are starting to crawl and eat by mouth, reaching their age-adjusted developmental milestones. Madisen will celebrate her first Mother’s Day with her boys this year. “It’s kind of surreal, I think, going from not knowing if they are going to survive to now they are big chunky, happy babies, and we got to take them home and celebrate everything,” Madisen said.
BOSTON —
Fraternal twins Wyatt and Gavin Glaze giggled and rolled as they played on a mat with their mother, Madisen. On Thursday, the babies visited the NICU at Brigham and Women’s Hospital, where they lived the first five months of their lives after being born four months before their due date.
“They were the smallest babies I’ve ever seen,” Madisen said. “When I went up to see them, I was like, ‘Oh my God, there’s no way. No way.’”
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The boys each weighed only one pound and were 10 inches long. Last June, Madisen was 22 weeks along in her pregnancy when they were born.
“We have strived over the past couple of years to specialize in those small babies,” Dr. Elizabeth Flanigan, the Chief of Clinical Operations in the Department of Pediatrics at Brigham and Women’s, said.
Brigham and Women’s treats between 10 and 20 babies born at 22 weeks each year. Infants born between 22 and 27 weeks gestation are known as micro-preemies. Caring for them carries significant challenges, including access to equipment that is small enough and dealing with their delicate skin.
“Their skin is so fragile that some of the challenges that we talk about and some of what we have focused on this program is how do we care for the skin of a baby like this? How do we attach our monitor leads, for example,” Flanigan said.
Flanigan and her team meet weekly to discuss each case and improve their treatment plans.
“It’s not just about us providing medicine. If you take the time to listen to families and babies, the next baby will excel beyond what you have done,” NICU Medical Director Dr. Elisa Abdulhayoglu said.
Wyatt and Gavin spent five months in the NICU before being discharged on Nov. 30. They are starting to crawl and eat by mouth, reaching their age-adjusted developmental milestones. Madisen will celebrate her first Mother’s Day with her boys this year.
“It’s kind of surreal, I think, going from not knowing if they are going to survive to now they are big chunky, happy babies, and we got to take them home and celebrate everything,” Madisen said.
