Stimulating development

MILL CREEK – Imagine the fragility of newborn twins weighing about 2 pounds each and not much bigger than your hand.

Hannah and Sophia Christian lived the first four months of their lives in hospital intensive care units after being born at 28 weeks, just seven months into their mother’s pregnancy.

Sophia was transported from Providence Everett Medical Center to Children’s Hospital and Regional Medical Center in Seattle.

Doctors told the twins’ parents, Jonathan and Sarah Christian, that she was one of the sickest babies there.

“I feared every day she would pass away,” her mother said.

Every time the phone rang early in the morning or late at night, “I froze in fear … knowing it was the hospital with a bad report.”

Now 20 months old, it would be hard to know the Christian twins were once so frail. They bound around a special room at Providence Everett Medical Center designed to challenge and strengthen their development.

A tall bubble tube changes color as Hannah leans down and presses buttons bigger than her hands. Sophia plays in an area filled with colored balls.

These are just part of the services both twins receive at the hospital’s Children’s Center to help them overcome the disabilities caused by their extremely early birth.

An annual event on Saturday in Everett, the March of Dimes walk, supports research to try to prevent premature births, the disabilities they cause, and help children and parents like the Christian family.

In Washington, one in 10 babies is born prematurely, a leading killer of newborns and cause of disabilities.

Sophia and Hannah are well on their way to overcoming problems caused by their premature births, yet many other babies face a host of physical and development problems that can be caused by prematurity.

Twenty to 40 percent of low birth weight babies, weighing just over 3 pounds, develop lasting disabilities, according to Valorie Fanger, spokeswoman for the Washington chapter of the March of Dimes.

Nearly all babies born at less than 26 weeks – far short of the typical pregnancy of about 40 weeks – initially require extra oxygen to help them breathe.

Babies weighing just 1 to 2 pounds at birth are too immature to suck, swallow and breathe at the same time, so they must be fed intravenously until they develop more fully.

Nearly half of all infants born extremely prematurely have significantly more learning and physical disabilities by the time they reach kindergarten age than other children their age, Fanger said.

“If you can diagnose the issues early and get the kids into therapy early, then a lot of times you can have a success story,” she said.

The Christian twins spent four months in intensive care units for infants at hospitals in Everett and Seattle, following their birth on Aug. 28, 2004. Sophia still needed supplemental oxygen when she arrived home in December.

Like many premature babies, both twins were hypersensitive to noise and light.

“When they’re born so early, their central nervous system isn’t ready to be bombarded with all the stimulation,” said Lynne Clark-McNamara, a specialist at the Children’s Center. She has helped the twins with special therapies since they were born.

“A car horn can set them off, get them very upset,” she said, sometimes triggering tantrums or causing them to be hyperactive.

Sophia used to scream when her mom turned on the vacuum cleaner. “I couldn’t vacuum in the house without someone holding her,” her mom said.

The tall bubble tube at the Children’s Center, with its changing colors, has helped Sophia overcome some of her extreme sensitivities to light and noise. It has a deep, gentle bass vibration.

Hannah’s premature birth left her with digestive problems so severe that she’s still fed from a tube and is reluctant to chew or even put food to her mouth.

Although Sophia still receives some tube feedings, too, she’s much more eager to eat.

Sarah Christian hopes that both her daughters will no longer need their feeding tubes by the time they enter school.

“We’re just amazed as Sophia’s progress,” she said. “Four months ago, she was not eating, except maybe trying a cracker here and there.”

Now Christian sometimes gives Sophia part of a bagel with cream cheese. “She loves it,” Christian said. “I can even throw a piece of sandwich meat on it now, which is outstanding.”

And Hannah, who was the last to crawl and the first to walk, continues to progress with other muscle and coordination skills.

When Christian thinks of the first glimpse of her frail twins, just slightly more than a foot long and with nearly translucent skin, “I would not have thought they would be doing this well,” she said.

“In fact, we’ve had many nurses and doctors comment they wouldn’t believe they were the same kids.”

Reporter Sharon Salyer: 425-339-3486 or salyer@heraldnet.com.

March of Dimes walk

Registration for the March of Dimes walk in Snohomish County will begin at 7:30 a.m. Saturday at American Legion Memorial Park, 145 Alverson Blvd. in Everett. The walk begins at 8:30 a.m. There is no registration fee. However, walkers raise funds for the March of Dimes campaign to prevent premature births. For information, check the March of Dimes Web site at www.walkamerica.org or call 206-624-1373.