Let us introduce you to Matthew. Matthew is 4 years old and from all appearances, he looks like your normal, average child. There is nothing about him that screams, "something is wrong with me". Looks can be deceiving. Matthew is not challenged physically, in fact he has continued to meet his physical milestones right on schedule. At his birth, due simply to his prematurity, we were prepared to do battle with all sorts of illnesses, developmental delays and set-backs. He suffered a Grade II Intraventricular Hemmorage, jaundice, sepsis, RVS, pneunomia, collapsed lungs. You name it, and he had it, all the things common to being born so premature. The good news, or so we were told, is that Matthew shouldn't have any major issues due to his prematurity. What I haven't mentioned is that Matthew is a twin. We have been told that Matthew was born to save Charlie's life. Charlie's situation was far more life threatening , as it continues to be. Unfortunately, Charlie immediately began showing signs of life-altering disabilities. During our NICU stay, much of our focus was spent day to day, praying for Charlie to survive. Not that we didn't worry for Matthew, particularly during the 3 weeks he had RSV and pnemonia. Those were terrifying days, not knowing if your baby was going to live or die. It is hard to explain our feelings at the time, we had been lulled into a sense that Matthew was a fighter and he would come out of this without a dent. We took him home and he began to look and act like a normal baby. He was meeting his developmental milestones with the help of weekly occupational and physical therapy, he began saying simple words, so we had no cause for concern. Mattthew was the tough one, he was going to be just fine. Once again, a lot of our focus was on Charlie and doing everything we could to make him healthy like Matthew. Matthew was the standard of excellence and we wanted Charlie to be there right along side of him. Everyone will tell you not to compare twins, but to tell the honest truth, how can you NOT compare them? That notion seems absurd to me. I realize that all children develop differently, but when you see one twin simply blow by the other, you tend to compare. Matthew was outrunning Charlie by a country mile. Again, this sense of security, we really don't need to worry as much about Matthew, he is just fine. He was doing so well, that by his first birthday, we began discontinuing therapies, one by one. And when the fog cleared, we began to discover the damage Matthew's prematurity had caused. He hadn't gotten lucky at all, not by a long shot.
So, in this site, you will learn more about Matthew and his complications due to prematurity, as we see it. Remember, we are not doctors, so any information contained in this site is no substitute for the advice of your own physician. We hope by telling Matthew's story, it will inspire and give hope to someone who needs it. But, to tell his story, we must start at the beginning.....
13 Weeks Too Early...
