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Last Christmas, Lewis Macdonald’s parents Amie and Paul told him he was going to become a big brother. This year, they will celebrate it as a family of five after Ellis and Blair made it home despite a tough battle
AMIE and Paul Macdonald are looking forward to their first Christmas with their “superhero” twins, who have defied the odds to survive.
Even before Ellis and Blair were born, the couple were warned their babies might not make it.
A rare condition in the womb meant Ellis wasn’t growing properly. The parents were faced with an agonising dilemma of whether to allow doctors to intervene, which would have meant losing one baby in a bid to save the other.
They decided against surgery and miraculously both twins survived. They’re six months old now and thriving.
Although they’re identical, they don’t look it because Ellis is much smaller at just over half the weight of his brother.
But the boys share a special bond, have big smiles and love holding hands.
Amie, 29, said: “They’re little superheroes after everything the two of them have battled through.
“I didn’t think I would get them home and to have them here coming up to the first Christmas is a bit overwhelming sometimes.”
Team manager Amie and Paul, 32, a telecoms incident manager, live in Cambuslang, near Glasgow, and also have another son, eight-year-old Lewis.
Last Christmas, they’d just found out Amie was pregnant and were full of excitement for the future.
She said: “We wrapped up a box of baby things to give Lewis to let him know he was going to have a brother or sister. He said it was the best present ever to find out he was going be a big brother.”
A scan at 10 weeks revealed Amie was carrying twins.
She recalled: “It was a major shock but we were delighted.”
Five weeks later, doctors discovered Ellis wasn’t growing properly in the womb. He was much smaller than his brother and was suffering from selective intrauterine growth restriction, or SIUGR.
The condition occurs in about 10 per cent of monochorionic twin pregnancies – where the babies share a placenta – and means one of them has a smaller share that limits their growth.
Ellis also had much less fluid in his amniotic sac.
Amie said: “At one point it was like he was shrink-wrapped in his tiny sac instead of it being filled with fluid, so he was unable to move.
“At that point, I was told he would only have two weeks to live. We were told to selectively reduce Ellis to give Blair a chance.
“Surgery would go in through my stomach to stop nutrients from me going to Ellis. But I was warned there was a 40 to 60 per cent chance that if we did something to Ellis it would have also harmed Blair.
“There was also a chance that if Ellis passed away on his own that could affect Blair as well.”
Faced with such an impossible choice, the couple decided to let nature take its course rather than intervene.
Amie said: “I didn’t want it to be my fault if we lost them.
“I thought if it’s going to happen, it will be down to nature. I believe the boys were given to me to give them that fighting chance.
“I said whatever is going to happen is going to happen – it’s out of my control.” Amie researched the condition online and found a support group where others suggested she increase her fluid and protein intake to try to help her placenta.
She said: “I drank five litres of water a day and would eat 200g of protein, mainly through chicken and I’d have scrambled eggs in the mornings. Within a couple of weeks, Ellis was growing a bit bigger and the fluid had increased.”
Amie was scanned twice weekly at the Princess Royal Maternity Hospital
They love holding hands. Ellis has the biggest smile and Blair just loves giggling MUM AMIE