{"id":320619,"date":"2024-10-22T16:54:16","date_gmt":"2024-10-22T21:54:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.liveaction.org\/news\/?p=320619"},"modified":"2024-10-22T01:04:18","modified_gmt":"2024-10-22T06:04:18","slug":"twins-scotland-24-weeks-home-emotional-journey","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/twins-scotland-24-weeks-home-emotional-journey\/","title":{"rendered":"Twins born in Scotland at 24 weeks are finally home: ‘It was such an emotional journey’"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Katrina Pugh of Newmains in Scotland was 39 years old, and at 24 weeks pregnant she was experiencing back pain. Just at the end of her second trimester, she went to the hospital one February day to get checked out.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

She was immediately admitted and told she was actually in labor, and that her twins were on the way. First, Jennifer was born, at a tiny 1lb 2oz, followed by her brother George at 1lb 5oz, well ahead of her mid-June due date.<\/span><\/p>\n

The twins were rushed to the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) where they were put on life support. Katrina and her partner Barry Fleming, 31, rushed to be by their fragile babies.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cGeorge and Jennifer were formed but they just didn\u2019t look like you\u2019d expect a baby to look. You could see through them and their eyes were still closed,\u201d she told <\/span>The Daily Record<\/span><\/a>.\u00a0 \u201cThey were so tiny and you could sit them in the palm of your hand. We asked if they were going to be alright, and no one could tell us. They said they would do everything they could. It was only when we were getting them home that they admitted they didn\u2019t know if they were going to make it.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The tiny babies needed a lot of different procedures during their NICU stay. Both had retinopathy of prematurity (ROP), requiring injections in their eyes to treat it. And while George was initially the heavier of the two, Jennifer quickly surpassed him and started doing better. Boys in the NICU frequently <\/span>risk poorer outcomes<\/span><\/a>, and the same was true of George. He needed four surgeries, and at one point his belly was distended to the point of making it difficult for him to breathe.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

After 107 days, Jennifer was eventually able to come home with mom and dad. But George stayed under the watchful eye of his care team until August \u2013 180 days after his birth. But their journey still wasn\u2019t done, as Jennifer eventually had to return to the hospital yet again for a brief time.<\/span><\/p>\n