Motherhood is indeed a very beautiful phase in most women’s lives. Having a baby is an exhilarating experience that begins with a wonderful 9-month long journey. This period marks the beginning of a splendid future for their lives. Even though most couples plan on adding only one baby at a time, life often surprises us. When it comes to kids, most think, the more the merrier. However, you might encounter some hiccups before landing on your happy place. This was certainly the case with a mother who welcomed her twin babies into the world, but not exactly at the same time because of a rare medical condition.Now most twins often get a little annoyed at the thought of sharing the same birthday, but that will certainly not be the case for Harley and his older sister, Sadie. The Sydney twins were born 31 days apart from each other.
The extraordinary life of the twins began at the Royal Hospital for Women at Randwick, where they were born. While waiting for her brother Harley to arrive, Sadie was kept inside a $100,000 hi-tech incubator at the hospital’s NICU.
All this began when the mother was taken to intensive care in the wake of a pre-existing heart condition, which got intense with the pregnancy. Danielle began dilating when she was just 19 weeks pregnant, giving birth to Sadie five weeks later, in less than two minutes.
The couple was taken aback by this rare medical condition. Sadie, because of her early arrival, had to spend the first few weeks of her life in an incubator. Danielle couldn’t even breastfeed her daughter as there was a chance that it might cause her to go into labor with Harley.
During the first month, Sadie was tube fed, and only her mother was allowed to hold her in a “kangaroo cuddle.” After giving birth to one of her twin babies, Danielle felt blessed to able to hold her daughter and make a skin-to-skin connection with her.
Sadie and Harley, born on October 26 and November 26 respectively, are ready to have a blast with their parents on their first Christmas. Harley even met his first Santa five days after his birth at a Charity fundraiser organized at the hospital.
It costs around $52 to keep a baby breathing on a ventilator for half an hour. However, most of the lifesaving equipment at the NICU is bought through donations. The majority of these funds are received by The Royal Hospital for Women Foundation, which aids in the treatment of around 600 newborn babies every year.
