Posted on 02/20/2004 9:27:00 AM PST by hocndoc
Feb. 20, 2004, 10:39AM Tomball baby one of nation's tiniest ever By ROSANNA RUIZ Copyright 2004 Houston Chronicle
RESOURCES • 'The Tiniest Babies' registry: Developed by the University of Iowa.
Most parents consider the birth of their children a miracle. For the Walpoles, that may not be a stretch.
The combined weight of Dodie and Vaughn Walpole's twin girls, born Feb. 11 about two months prematurely, was less than 4 pounds. Dodie Walpole, 29, gave birth by Caesarean section to Trinity and Kylie. Trinity weighed 2.8 pounds at birth, and Kylie was 12 ounces, making her one of the tiniest babies ever delivered.
"She will fit in the palm of your hand -- my husband's wedding ring fits over her arm and her leg," Dodie Walpole said of Kylie. "She's a fighter. It's amazing."
The Walpoles, of Tomball, said their girls are doing well, and they have been assured that the babies' size will have no negative effects on their lives.
Nevertheless, Vaughn Walpole was frightened at his first sight of his tiny infants, especially Kylie.
"After I got to see her and count all her fingers and toes and made sure they were all there, I calmed down a little bit," said the 31-year-old father.
Despite their size, the infants are doing well.
"Everything is developed," said Dr. Rose Hernandez, a neonatologist who is treating the girls at the Woman's Hospital of Texas in Houston, where the girls were born.
"Her brain is fine, her lungs are fine, her kidney is fine, her heart is fine, everything is perfect."
According to Dr. Edward Bell, a professor of pediatrics at the University of Iowa, an infant's chance of survival increases with age, which is far more important than birth weight. Bell keeps track of births and development of the world's smallest surviving babies born less than 14 ounces.
His comprehensive registry listed on the university's Web site includes information about tiny infants based on information from media reports and medical journals. The Web site notes that gestational age is more important "in determining the prognosis of an extremely premature baby."
The Walpoles were aware of medical studies that have linked low birth weight to the use of fertility drugs. However, they sought a fertility specialist because the couple had been unsuccessful at conceiving a child for a decade.
If a fertility specialist did not give the Walpoles the results they sought, their next move was to adopt, Vaughn Walpole said. After one fertility drug did not prove successful, Dodie Walpole switched to another, and within two weeks she was pregnant. Then she learned that she would have twins.
But, the couple soon discovered all was not well.
About 12 weeks into the pregnancy, Dodie Walpole learned that one of her babies was not developing at the same rate as the other, and there was concern that Kylie would not survive.
Kylie's developmental problems would mean that Dodie Walpole would have to deliver the babies before the full 40-week term and would have to have a Caesarean. The goal was to make it to 34 weeks to increase Kylie's chances of survival.
At about 33 weeks, Kylie stopped developing. It was time to deliver.
She was born at 6:53 p.m. and her sister a minute later.
Now Kylie is doing well and expected to survive.
Dr. Hernandez attributes Kylie's wellness to the length of her gestation period.
"In utero, the baby was deprived of certain nutrients and blood flow," Hernandez told KHOU-Channel 11. "But at this point it doesn't seem to have adversely affected her."
Neither baby required a respirator, which "shocked" doctors and nurses, their mother said. Infants born at that weight and size typically need help breathing.
Now that they have two healthy girls, the couple is satisfied they probably won't have more.
"Two is enough," Dodie Walpole said.
KHOU-Channel 11 contributed information for the origination of this story.
By another miracle, until the paper changes its website, Kylie also shows us the schizophrenia of our laws and the current state of ethics. On the State and Local News sidebar on the same page as this, can be found:
Current stories in Local & State:
* At 12 ounces, Tomball baby one of tiniest ever * Craddick finance records sought * 'Jane Roe' takes abortion case back to court
Tha same issue has the report, with it's pro-abortion comments, on next month's hearing before the 5th Circuit Court on Roe v. Wade.
http://www.chron.com/cs/CDA/ssistory.mpl/metropolitan/2411686
The difference between Kylie (thank God she's alive) and other 12 ounce and/or 34 week babies is not one of development, function, or location - and most certainly not one of inalienable human rights - but of the wishes and intention of other human beings.
Doesn't that describe most children? ;-)
God bless and sustain this tiny little girl....
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