Reunited after 187 days apart, the twin survivors born at just 24 weeks
BORN four months early, these twin boys spent most of their first 27 weeks apart as they battled to survive.
While Frankie astonished his parents by thriving against the odds, Nico had haemorrhages in his head and lungs and had to be resuscitated twice.
But after 187 days in hospital, in which he had two operations on his brain and one on his airway, Nico has finally been reunited with his brother at home.
Mother Jo-Anne Collins said: ‘To have the two boys home together is a miracle. I cried my first happy tears when we were together as a family for the first time.’
Miss Collins, 36, and her partner Paul Paraskeva, 37, were thrilled to discover they were expecting twins after struggling to conceive for 12 years. The couple spent £25,000 on five rounds of IVF.
Miss Collins endured a mother’s worst nightmare when she went into labour at 24 weeks and two days – while stuck in traffic 110 miles from her home in Bristol. The brand manager said: ‘We happened to be a mile from St Peter’s Hospital, in Surrey, which has one of the most advanced neonatal units in the country so the boys were very lucky.’ Mr Paraskeva, a barber, arrived shortly after the boys were born, weighing just 1lb 5oz each. They were delivered on September 25 but had been due on January 13. The NHS does not try to save most babies born before 24 weeks because their organs are not developed enough.
Nico was delivered naturally but Frankie was born by caesarean as he was breech.
Miss Collins said: ‘They put Nico on my tummy after I gave birth to him and he was the smallest thing I’d seen in my entire life. He looked like a little guinea pig and he was transparent. And their eyes were fused shut for the first three weeks of their lives.’
In his first few days, Nico had a haemorrhage in his head and lungs, and his heart stopped when he had a cuddle with his mother. But he survived after CPR and even made it through two rounds of neurosurgery after suffering hydrocephalus, a build- up of fluid on the brain. Both boys also had to have laser eye surgery and they have chronic lung disease.
Frankie was allowed home after 17 weeks in hospital and Nico after 27 weeks. Frankie now weighs 10lb 12oz and his brother weighs 8lb 15oz.
Miss Collins said: ‘Now that they’re home, I feel like I can be a proper mum. We can just be a normal family.’