They came into the world in a deferred delivery, he on January 17 with 1.1 kilos and his sister, on the 26th to gain time and chances of survival. “The doctors told me that I was the best incubator,” says his mother
Ian and Laia are fine. Ten months after coming into the world in two risky deliveries, the two brothers continue to gain weight at a good rate. Both were born prematurely with just over a kilo and are already around seven. They are twins (his mother carried them in a risky pregnancy in different bags), but nine days passed between Ian’s natural birth and the emergency caesarean delivery of his sister Laia. It is what is known as delayed delivery, an unusual procedure that professionals put into practice in the delivery of extremely premature twins. This was done at the Obstetrics and Gynecology Service of the Sant Joan de Déu Hospital in Barcelona, where the children were born. In that unit, eight deliveries of this type have been carried out in the last five years, including the delivery of twins with a difference… of 48 days!, the largest recorded in Spain.
Ian was born at 28 weeks and three days with a weight of 1.1 kilos, while Laia was born at 29 weeks and five days, weighing 1.19 kilos. They were brought forward almost three months. They are the first children of Laura Pupo, a 35-year-old Cuban, and José Carlos Martins, a 34-year-old Portuguese, a couple who have spent half their lives in Barcelona. Ian was immediately transferred to the neonatal intensive care unit. And the doctors considered delaying the birth of the second baby for as long as possible to increase her gestational age and her chances of survival. «I thought it was a matter of holding out for a few hours, but the doctors told me ‘you are the best incubator’, so time went by and we added days and days. I told them take it out now, and they explained to me that every minute in there was gold. I wanted us all to be together as soon as possible, but I realized that the time that Laia spent in my womb was very important to her. Every second she counted. In fact, she was born stronger and did not require respiratory support, as Ian did need for two months », the happy mother now recalls.
Laura lived those moments with anguish. “It was hard because I saw Ian when he was born and they immediately took him away and I didn’t see him again for three or four days… And then all the uncertainty of what was happening with the child. Her bag broke when her brother was born and she didn’t feel it so much anymore. They followed me up with tests, cultures, ultrasounds… to see her constants… And, in a different way, I was very concerned for both of them, for one because he was very small and couldn’t be with him, and then for what could be going on inside me with her. I didn’t know when she was going to come out and how she was going to do it ».
Nine days after the first birth, a complication told the doctors that there was no time to lose and that Laia had to be brought into the world now so as not to endanger her life. She was an emergency C-section. She did not even give time to notify the father of the creature. She was born on January 26. Two deferred birthdays for the twins. “But the party will be common,” adds Laura with a smile.
The children remained in the hospital for three months and were discharged in April. Now the couple enjoy their children in their house in Sant Cugat. «My pregnancy was extremely risky and thanks to the exceptional team at Sant Joan de Déu everything went well. I had doubts because I had heard of twins being born hours apart, but not days! I knew right away that I was in good hands. I’m very happy”.
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