Sean and Ryan are going to be a centerpiece at a fundraiser for the NICU. Below is what my mom and I wrote up about them.
Sean Patrick is my name. I came into the world one minute before my twin brother Ryan Avery on September **, 2005. Ryan was huge at a hefty five pounds. I was a nice compact four pounds and seven ounces. The doctors had my mommy stay at Utah Valley Regional Medical Center (UVRMC) trying to delay our birth, but because Ryan was ready to go (actually too ready to go), we were delivered by c-section seven weeks early.
After 24 hours in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU), we joined the preemies in the NICU feeders and growers section. We started out in separate cribs (?), after a lot of fussing on our part, it was decided that we share a single crib. We calmed way down and were much happier. Although, we did cooperate with each other by pulling out the other guy’s feeding tube and leads. We were said to be very weak at first and tired ourselves out completely when nursing. I could only handle one feeding a day for a while. It seems we slept the day and night away, but when I opened an eye there would be worried faces peering down at us. After nearly a month, we went home (hurray) dragging apnea monitors around and even slept attached to them.
Ryan had been diagnosised with spina bifida. I’ll get a little technical here. It’s a hole in the neurotube that surrounds the spinal cord. It can be very serious and scary. We made many trips to Primary Children’s Medical Center in Salt Lake City. (I had to come along because of the nursing schedule.) Ryan went for exams, tests, and finally surgery to repair the spina bifida on October **, 2005. The surgery was a success (hurray). Ryan acts just like me!
Home is quite an interesting place. We have an older brother, Andrew, who is two years old and has been compared to a hurricane by the same name, and a six-year-old brother, Alex, who’s so grown up, he’s in kindergarten.
Ryan is a happy, healthy, thirteen pounder who is busy smiling, cooing, laughing, and kicking like crazy. At a modest twelve pounds, I have all the same skills plus a delightful smile but make myself heard when things don’t go my way.
Ryan and I are so grateful to the staff at the NICU in UVRMC for their loving care. They were so gentle with us, watched us like hawks, and even sang to us when we were lonely. When looking our cutest, they snapped pictures of us for Mommy and Daddy; they made souvenir hand and foot prints; and gave us a special twins pillow to bring home. Best of all, they helped our parents cope with our special needs and answered all the questions with patience and kindness. Thanks to the parents support group, there was weekly pizza (although we didn’t get any). Mommy and Daddy felt when they had to leave us at the hospital, we were being looked after by people who really cared.
We are certainly a grateful family and I speak on behalf of Daddy, Mommy, Alex and Andrew, Ryan, and myself when I give our heartfelt thanks for the wonderful job they do at the UVRMC NICU.
We are still trying to figure out if we are identical ! ?
Wednesday, January 18, 2006
Wednesday, January 11, 2006
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