Kids

Miracle Babies

Neil and Ginger Blythin are names you have seen in Scribbles many times over the past few years.  I met "Gingee" when I had the pleasure of working with her when she was expecting the couple's first child William. Not long afterwards, baby Keira came into their lives.  We've featured both of them on Scribbles many times, most recently in a pix of them in their "cars" as they prepared to go to A&W (seen here.)

Last year the couple discovered Ginger was pregnant again and this time it would be twins. As revealed in the article and photos featured below [courtesy of the St Catharines/Niagara newspaper and website: The Standard] the joyful news would be short lived, when complications were discovered with the twins development.

Ginger & Neal, I have to tell you, this brought me to tears, both happy and sad. I am touched by your openness and willingness to share your story with Niagara and the world wide web.

You have both been inspirations to me and if anyone ever needed an explanation as to why, all they need to do is read the story below.

I love you both so much and all my prayers are with you, today, tomorrow and forever!

~Ken

ALL PHOTOS & STORY COURTESY THE STANDARD

McMaster's tiniest baby to go home to Falls
by Grant LaFleche, The Standard

There isn't much Neil Blythin likes about the metric system. A blacksmith by trade, he prefers to work in the old imperial system of feet and inches.

ALL PHOTOS & STORY COURTESY THE STANDARD

But now he knows that grams matter. That tiny metric measurement has become a constant in his life. It's how his newborn daughter Rachel is measured.

When she was born 19 weeks ago, Rachel was a mere 330 grams. That's less than a pound. Less than a block of butter.

She was so small, Neil was able to fit his wedding band around her tiny leg.

"She was so small at first she didn't wear children's clothes," says Rachel's mother Ginger Blythin. "She wore doll clothes."

Rachel and her larger but identical twin sister Evelyn, are doing well. Both were born prematurely — a necessary step to save their lives — but Rachel was the smallest child ever born at the McMaster University children's hospital in Hamilton.

The Niagara Falls couple's odyssey began on April 10 when they were informed there were some irregularities on ultrasound scans of the twins.

Scans at McMaster Children's Hospital in Hamilton and Mount Sinai Hospital in Toronto revealed potentially lethal complications. Rachel and Evelyn were locked in what is called twin-to-twin transfusion syndrome.

ALL PHOTOS & STORY COURTESY THE STANDARD

Identical twins share a single placenta while in the womb, and so share blood circulation from their mother. Each baby has her own connection to the placenta to get critical nutrients, but their shared connection can mean one twin will get more of the blood flow and nutrients than the other.

"Essentially, Rachel was acting as a pump for Evelyn, passing everything to her," says Neil.

Without that critical blood supply from her mother, Rachel wasn't growing properly.

"You can think of it like this. Imagine they are both eating a pizza," says Ginger. "One of them is eating all the good stuff in the middle and the other is just eating the crust."

Moreover, Evelyn wasn't just getting better food, she had more room to grow.

"Rachel was sort of just saran wrapped against the side of the womb," Ginger says.

The risk to the babies was severe. While Rachel was effectively being starved, the greater flow of blood to Evelyn was stressing the larger twin's heart. Without medical intervention their chances of survival were low.

A relatively rare laser surgery could cauterize the shared blood vessels, giving Rachel and Evelyn their own independent source of nutrition. But the Blythins said their doctors wanted to wait and see if the condition of the babies changed.

"There really isn't anything you can do at that point," says Ginger. "One of the things I was told early on by people who had been through this was that Google is not your friend."

While the Internet would connect her with support groups, it was also filled with misinformation and bogus treatment ideas.

"You really have to know what you are looking for," she says.

ALL PHOTOS & STORY COURTESY THE STANDARD

On May 2, doctors at Mount Sinai decided they couldn't wait any longer. They had to do the laser surgery to give the twins a fighting chance.

After the operation, it was a waiting game again. Ginger was only in her 23rd week of pregnancy. Birthing the babies at that point was inherently risky. So the doctors decided to wait and see how the babies progressed. By the end of May, the Blythins case was moved back to McMaster, where they would have to drive to from Niagara Falls once a week for a check up.

The plan didn't last long.

On June 3, they discovered that Evelyn's heart was in distress. The twins had to be delivered.

Evelyn was 1,260 grams at birth, a mere two pounds. Still, she seemed a giant to her sister Rachel who weighed in at 330 grams. Rachel was so small she could be bathed in a small ice cream container sized bucket. Ginger could not hold her daughter for more than 11 weeks after her birth

The girls have gained considerable weight since June. Evelyn has been home in Niagara Falls for a short and the Blythins said Rachel is scheduled to come home Wednesday.

Neil said it will be some time before they know for sure if there will be complications from the early birth. Rachel still has a surgically implanted tube that will be used to feed her until she is big enough to eat on her own. And it won't be until the girls are about two years old before it will be clear if there are any developmental issues.

For now, they are looking forward to having their family all in one place. For months before the birth the couple has been traveling from Niagara Falls to hospitals in Hamilton and Toronto. Even after Rachel and Evelyn were born, the Blythins life was far from routine. They had to make regular trips to McMaster, while managing the other two children at home in Niagara Falls.

Neil's parents would take turns visiting the twins or babysitting the other kids, Ginger said.

ALL PHOTOS & STORY COURTESY THE STANDARD

"We had just tremendous support," Ginger said.

Although regular check ups will still be part of their lives until the twins are little older, Neil says he is looking forward to a sense of normalcy.

"We haven't slept since April," he said.

Rachel and Evelyn a timeline:April 10 - The Blythins are told there are problems with the twins Ginger Blythin is carrying. They first go to McMaster Children's Hospital in Hamilton and are quickly sent to Mount Sinai in Toronto. The babies are diagnosed with twin-to-twin transfusion syndrome.

May 1 - Doctors decide laser surgery is needed to save the babies.

May 2 - Ginger undergoes surgery.

June 3 - Evelyn's heart is in distress and the babies have to be born.

Oct 16 - Rachel scheduled to go home to Niagara Falls. Evelyn has been home for several weeks.

 ALL PHOTOS & STORY COURTESY THE STANDARD