At 28 weeks, Chester and Otis, twins, were born too soon. At birth, Otis weighed 3 pounds 7 ounces and was in quite good health, but his twin brother weighed only 1 pound 1 ounce.
Chester was still struggling and his weight was still at a critical level when Otis, who weighed 6 lb 3 oz, was released from the hospital six weeks later. However, the twins’ parents, Kelly Graves, 32, and Bill, 35, believed that Chester would survive because of the strong link between the two siblings.
Kelly stated to the Daily Mail:
“I have no doubt that cuddles with his twin has helped him keep fighting.”
She went on:
“It was really emotional when the twins finally met on September 22, their first day together since their birth. Even though Otis was sleeping, Chester was fixated on him and couldn’t keep his eyes off his brother; it was everything I had been hoping for.”
Including:
“We are really fortunate that Chester is a fighter who continues to battle to return home and be with his parents, Otis, and the rest of the family in spite of everything that has happened to him. Since being sent back to our neighborhood hospital in Southend, he has continued to be incubated and maintained on high flow oxygen. We are eager for Chester to return home at last. Our goal is to have him return in November.
The twins’ disparity in size was caused by a disorder known as Selective Intrauterine Growth Restriction, which prevented them from getting enough nutrition from the mother’s placenta. Kelly remembers being sent to London’s Kings College Hospital for laser surgery:
“They told us that Chester wasn’t really growing because there wasn’t a flow of nutrients to him.”In order to access the placenta and destroy the blood veins that connect the two infants, I had to undergo endoscopic laser surgery, which involves entering the womb through the side of your body. In order to prevent Otis from dying or suffering permanent brain damage in the event that Chester had not lived, the procedure was carried out to separate the kids in the womb.
Following the procedure, Otis began to grow at a rate of roughly 100g per week, whereas his brother’s growth remained restricted at 25g per week.
Kelly stated:
“When I left, I was giving him about 200g of protein a day to aid with his growth and trying to raise Chester’s hydration levels, which were also low, by consuming about five litres of water. I did everything I could to keep him fighting and re-level him, but this was in no way helpful.
In week 28 of her pregnancy, Chester’s health stabilized. Kelly was admitted to Addenbrooke’s Hospital in Cambridge shortly after her waters broke. She stated:
“At 485 grams, Chester was almost considered viable at this time, but we were informed that his heart rate continued to drop and that there was little chance he would survive the cesarean section. All we could do was hope he would continue to fight.
Chester underwent incubation after Kelly’s C-section.
Kelly remembers:
“The consultant was anxious to get Chester incubated as soon as possible to help him live after discovering a kink in his cord that also stopped his growth when he came out. In addition, he had eye surgery and a hole in his heart that was later found and happily healed.
Kelly and Billy had to make the daily drive from Addenbrooke Hospital to Southend to see how their newborns were doing. Additionally, they needed to set up daycare for their other three children, Phoebe, age 10, Florence, age 8, and Albert, age 5.
Kelly stated:
“People were asking us how we managed, but we were forced to go to survival mode and simply kept moving forward. The worst part was that we were hardly able to spend any time with the children because they had to stay with other family members throughout the school breaks. The children have been amazing; despite their youth, they are equally anxious to see Chester because they haven’t had a chance to get to know him yet because of covid.
Regarding having Otis at home, she stated:
“We have Otis at home now and everyone says how nice it must be, but it’s also horrible because we can’t feel complete until both babies are back together.”
Observing:
“[Chester] has to gain a further 255 grams still and will most likely be on low flow oxygen when he’s home, but we are hoping in around a month or two he can finally meet the rest of the family.”