It has now been exactly 2 months since Aidan returned home to join Ethan.
Friends and family always ask "How are the babies?" to which our default reply is "They're alright."
Actually, they are alright. Not everything is rosy, though. But considering the circumstances, I think we were dealt a pretty darn good hand to play.
So, what's the real answer to "How are the babies?"
They're alright. The boys are nearly 7 months old now but they're smaller than full-term babies at 7 months. They do however, compare more favorably with 4-month-olds which is probably more fair since they were 3 months premature.
Against all odds, the boys:
1. Don't have any signs of ROP (Retinopathy of Prematurity ). The overwhelming majority of babies born at 28-months have at least stage 1 ROP.
2. They were never effected by NEC (Necrotizing enterocolitis). It affects nearly 10% of all babies born less than 1500g. Mortality rate is over 50%. We've personally witnessed several babies in the NICU pass away from this condition. Each of our boys weighed about 1kg at birth. This coupled with the fact that each of them had multiple episodes of distended bowels (ie, possible early indicator of NEC) left us nerve racking for the first few months at the hospital.
3. They never developed meningitis. The boys combined for 5 incidences of fever while in the NICU. Each time, spinal fluid needed to be extracted and tested for meningitis. Thank god the tests never came back positive.
But are they alright in that they're the picture of health and development? Not exactly since there are still hurdles to overcome. But they're alright and it's really all we can ask for.
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