Doctors didn’t think little Reagan would survive the womb, but she was born alongside her twin sister and both are now thriving six months on. A tiny tot who was born three times smaller than her twin sister defied the odds after doctors were convinced she would ᴅɪᴇ in the womb.
Reagan, who is now six months old, was born 11 weeks early and weighing just 1lƅ, and was dwarfed by her twin Mila, who was 2lƅ 13oz. Mum Audrieanna Lambert said it was a miracle Reagan was alive at all after medics’ stark warnings she wouldn’t survive the pregnancy.
Doctors at West Penn Hospital, Pittsburgh, USA became concerned at 20 weeks when they spotted Reagan had stopped growing. After a C-sᴇᴄᴛɪᴏɴ in December 2021, both twins were taken to the newborn intensive care unit where Mila spent 45 days before she was strong enough to come home. But tiny Reagan, who ʙᴀᴛᴛʟᴇᴅ sᴇᴘsɪs, had to wait 118 days before she could join her sister at home in Washington, Pennsylvania. Now the twins are both thriving but are still different sizes, with Mila now weighing 12lƅs and Reagan 7lƅs 5oz.
Audrieanna, a 32-year-old claims specialist, said: “When I saw them for the first time Reagan was so much smaller than I imagined. The difference between them was ᴄʀᴀᴢʏ. Mila was almost three times the size. They don’t even look like twins they’re such different sizes! I knew Reagan was going to be small but she was just so tiny. But they were both miracles and pulled through. Now they’re incredible.”
Audrieanna and husband Chase, 29, a union laborer, were ecstatic to find out she was pregnant in June 2021 after their first round of IVF, following years of pregnancy struggles. At six weeks the couple discovered they were expecting twins but were told that baby b – Reagan – was measuring small and it was possible they would lose her early on during the pregnancy.
But at their 20 weeks sᴄᴀɴ, Reagan was 18% smaller than her sister and falling behind again. The doctors were not sure if she would make it at that point. At 24 weeks, the couple were given the ᴅᴇᴠᴀsᴛᴀᴛɪɴɢ news that Reagan was now 50% smaller and suffering issues with her cord flow- the transfer or nutrients from the mother’s ʙʟᴏᴏᴅ across the placenta to the foetus through the ᴜᴍʙɪʟɪᴄᴀʟ ᴄᴏʀᴅ. But two weeks later at the 26 week sᴄᴀɴ, doctors found that Reagan’s heart was still beating.
“They were really sʜᴏᴄᴋᴇᴅ that she was still holding on,” Audrieanna said. “I was determined I would do everything I could for her to make it.”
Audrieanna was admitted to West Penn Hospital at 27 weeks to be monitored. She made it to 29 weeks before Regan’s cord flow changed and the babies had to be ᴅᴇʟɪᴠᴇʀᴇᴅ by emergency c-sᴇᴄᴛɪᴏɴ. The twins were born on 10th December 2021, at 16.32pm, with Mila weighing 2lƅs 13oz and Reagan at 16.33pm, weighing 1lbs exactly. Both twins had to be taken straight to the NICU and Audrienna had to wait a few hours before she was able to see them.
“When I saw Reagan she was so small she could fit in your hand,” she said.
When the twins were two weeks old the family were told Reagan had developed sepsis and was ƅeing transferred to UPMC Children’s Hospital of Pittsƅurgh. Mila recovered well and was strong enough to go home in January 2022, after 45 days in hospital.
