Twins, Family Prevail Through Premature Birth

Sitting in her Roxborough kitchen Sept. 19, Christy Tyson, felt different. Throughout her pregnancy with twins, Tyson never endured a problem. She had even recently returned from a trip to Texas, which went smoothly.

However this day, as her husband changed a flat tire in their driveway, she experienced spotting and cramping. So, she called her doctor.

Her physician mentioned the possibility of Braxton Hicks contractions (essentially false labor pains), but suggested going to the hospital. However, there was nothing false about this labor.

"I knew they'd come early, but not that early," Tyson said.

Due Dec. 24, Kyleigh and Patrick were born more than three months premature, weighed 1 pound 14 ounces and 1 pound 8 ounces, respectively, and, as their mother said, looked like little aliens.

In life there's no reward for being early. Tyson and her husband, Kevin, learned from the start their children had a fight ahead of them.

Birth

For Tyson, the birth of her firstborns was six hours of escalating scenarios.

When she first arrived at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania, she was 2 centimeters dilated. Containment was the strategy—how to keep the babies in the womb as long as possible. Several options were discussed, including hormones and even using gravity to delay Mother Nature's push.

"My husband had a heart attack, and after they said maybe I would stay in a bed a few days to hold off the birth, I started freaking out," she said.

But she didn't get a few days. The next thing she knew, Tyson was 10 centimeters dilated, she was wheeled in for a Caesarean section and her memory went blank.

"Never did I feel what labor would be like. I thought there would be crazy cramps, a sense to push, nausea. I got nothing," she said.

When she woke up, she found that her babies entered the world at 4:07 and 4:09 p.m. Kevin said everything was OK. However, in the flurry he forgot one thing: their names. 

About 12 hours later, Tyson finally saw her children, Kyleigh and Patrick. Though she couldn't hold them, it was still a thrill.

"They had big heads, big eyes, small bodies and were bright red," she said.

Though alive, the babies' battle had just begun. 

The Fight

Born 26 weeks early, doctors told the Tysons everything would be a rough road, with lots of ups and downs. Often, white males struggle the most, and that proved true with Patrick. Certainly their size was a concern, but what worried physicians most was the gestation period—or the lack of real womb development.

"Their systems weren't ready, but the doctors had to push them," Tyson said.

Eating on their own and even looking at the light were out of the question. But both Patrick and Kyleigh's biggest challenge laid in learning to breath on their own. Oscillating ventilators were hooked up for the early months. With 14 neonatologists by their side, and innumerable nurses, the Tysons had a shot.

Both Kevin and Christy work for the City of Philadelphia, and credit their departments with being very supportive. Kevin went back to work shortly after his children's birth. Logistically, Christy found she had to as well.

"It was so hard to leave them. You don't plan on leaving your children in a hospital and then going back to work," she said. "But I decided if I worked while they were there, I could be with them when they came home."

As doctors accurately predicted, there was an ebb and flow to the development. Ahead of her brother, Kyleigh could be held after three weeks—Patrick after a month-and-a-half. Throughout, Tyson said there were encouraging signs.

"When they stopped having that bright light shine on them, I was so excited. It was nothing clinical, but it meant something to me," she said.

Personalities clearly emerged. Kyleigh was strong-willed and independent. Patrick was clingy and cuddly. That toughness within Kyleigh earned her a ticket home Dec. 11—a little before her projected due date. Patrick, however, had one more battle.

Patrick's Goes It Alone

"It was fantastic to take her home. I have no words to describe it. You spend everyday in the hospital, and then you're the sole person to take care of her," her mother said.

Baby's first Christmas was muted, because Patrick underwent surgery Dec. 17. Transferred to Children's Hospital of Philadelphia the day his sister was discharged, Patrick endured bowel trouble. Essentially, digestion through his intestines was slower, and the cause looked like a narrowed pathway. Doctors diagnosed him with necrotizing endocolitus, and surgery was recommended.

After a delay due to a blood infection, doctors attempted to correct Patrick's bowels. Once inside the child, they realized they were partly wrong.

Yes, Patrick had bowel problems, but it wasn't due to a narrow path. Instead, surgeons found a malrotated bowel, which means the bowel loops around the small intestine and causes problems. Doctors quickly recognized the problem, corrected it and Patrick made it out fine.

From there, Patrick's recovery strengthened and, more than a month after his sister, he was able to go home.

One day, during the rehabilitation, Patrick even reached up and grabbed his excited mother's hand.

The Path Forward

Though behind for kids their ages, both Patrick and Kyleigh are home. They visit the doctors once a week, and are slowly becoming normal children. By age 3, they should be caught up physically and developmentally.

"Getting 'normal,' for me, was them coming home. They're not in the hospital, which is a great comfort, but doing anything is an extra hour with them," Tyson said. 

Members of Leverington Presbyterian Church, the Tysons received many food donations throughout the early struggles. With family in nearby Buck County, Christy and Kevin got tons of support.

However when Christy eventually returns to work in a few weeks, her children won't be able to attend daycare because they were premature babies. Currently, the Tysons are looking for someone to help watch the kids three days a week for about a month. Longterm, the Tysons seek an au pair, which could be costly. 

During their time in the hospital, the Tysons kept an online journal accessible to interested people. Hosted by CaringBridge, the Web site provides a day-by-day account written by Tyson. Also, people may make donations there.

Staying positive was key, Tyson said, and she credits the staff at Pennsylvania Hospital for her children's progress.

"Seeing other babies in there, you realize ours didn't have the worst," she said of her babies born three months premature. "It could have been a lot worse."