'Miracle' tots finally come home

3:11pm Monday 1st December 2008

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THESE twin boys, described as two "little miracles" by their mum, are at home after beating the odds when they were born after just 25 weeks, weighing less than 4lbs between them.

Their mother, Rachel Carter, 37, said she feared the two would die after being born more than three months premature, but the little fighters pulled through and now Miss Carter is celebrating finally having both her sons at home before Christmas.

Morgan and Mason Woods were born in May and spent most of their early life in intensive care, with Mason only finally being allowed home this month.

When they were born, Mason weighed just 1lb 9oz and Morgan was 1lb 12oz and Miss Carter said they could fit in the palm of her hands.

She said: "I did think to myself I was going to lose them, but didn't say it out loud. I was ready for it the first day, but as every day went by, I thought not now."

Miss Carter, of West Avenue, Maesycwmmer, went to Newport's Royal Gwent Hospital in May after she started getting stomach pains, but did not think she was in labour because she wasn't due until August 16.

When doctors discovered she was in labour, she was given medication in a bid to prevent her from giving birth.

Despite this, Mason was born on May 3, and Morgan four days later.

Mason was rushed straight to intensive care, suffering bleeding to the head as well as undeveloped lungs, so Miss Carter wasn't able to see him for 24 hours.

When she saw him, she said: "He was so thin, he didn't look like my baby. In my heart, I was expecting that they wouldn't make it because they were so little."

The pair were both incubated and put on respirators to help them breathe and Miss Carter didn't hold Mason for the first time until he was two months old.

On May 13, the birthday of one of Miss Carter's daughters, Morgan had to be resuscitated after he stopped breathing and was transferred to the Univertsity Hospital of Wales, Cardiff.

"It was devastating, but we were so glad they brought him back," Miss Carter said.

Miss Carter and her partner Darren Woods, 39, had to divide their time between the University Hospital and Royal Gwent to see their sons.

While in hospital, Mason suffered kidney failure, a hernia, infections and had numerous blood transfusion.

He was five months old before he had his first bottle, being fed through a tube in his stomach prior to that.

His mother said at one point, he looked as though he was on his death bed and when he required surgery to examine his bowels, Miss Carter said they were told that he could die during the operation.

"That was the longest day, knowing what they'd said. I was saying to myself that he's come this far and he's a little fighter," she said.

Mason also required an operation on a valve in his heart at the Bristol's children's hospital.

While at hospital, Miss Carter said Mason stopped breathing several times: "Every time he was brought back, he gave me a little smile as if to say 'I'm alright mum.'"

Mason was in intensive care for five months and Morgan for two.

Morgan came home on August 27, and, after spending the first 205 days of his life in hospital, Mason finally joined his twin at home on November 24.

"It was brilliant - it was the best day. It meant everything," said his mother, who praised staff at the Royal Gwent for all their work with the boys.

Battling the odds

Mason now needs four types of medicine to increase the sodium levels in his body and prevent fluid build-up in his lungs. He is also on oxygen 24 hours a day. Morgan has hearing damage in his right ear and suffers with cerebral palsy and the twins both have physical therapy. Miss Carter said there is a chance Mason will develop cerebral palsy, but said it is too early to tell. Despite the seemingly insurmountable odds, Miss Carter said she knew they would win the fight: "I was thinking they were going to make it after the first week, I knew they had enough love and support and they were fighters."