Kate Ogg gave birth to twins, Jamie and Emily, in 2010, but doctors told her only Emily survived. She asked to hold Jamie, and ordered her husband, David, to join her shirtless in bed, hoping to give their boy some warmth, the Daily Mail reported.
Thinking it was the only time they would have with the tiny boy they had already decided to name Jamie, Kate asked to be able to hold the lifeless child, and told David to climb into the hospital bed for a tender embrace.
What happened next was nothing short of a miracle.
Cradled against his mom’s skin, Jamie started moving, Ogg said.
It was a final chance to say goodbye for grieving mother Kate Ogg after doctors gave up hope of saving her premature baby.
She tearfully told her lifeless son – born at 27 weeks weighing 2lb – how much she loved him and cuddled him tightly, not wanting to let him go.
The Queensland couple struggled to conceive for years before they finally became pregnant with the twins. Ogg went into labor just six months into her pregnancy and gave birth on March 25, 2010 — first to Jamie and Emily two minutes later.
“They were both born in their sac, but Jamie didn’t make a noise when they tore it open. Emily let out a big wail,” Ogg told the Daily Mail.
Jamie’s heart rate and breathing slowed, but after 20 minutes of struggling to improve the newborn’s vitals, doctors gave up and told the new parents that Jamie wasn’t going to make it, she said.
The doctors gave the devastated couple Jamie for a goodbye cuddle.
Having given up on a miracle, Mrs Ogg unwrapped the baby from his blanket and held him against her skin. And then an extraordinary thing happened.
After two hours of being hugged, touched and spoken to by his mother, the little boy began showing signs of life.
At first, it was just a gasp for air that was dismissed by doctors as a reflex action.
But then the startled mother fed him a little breast milk on her finger and he started breathing normally.
‘I thought, “Oh my God, what’s going on”,’ said Mrs Ogg.
‘A short time later he opened his eyes. It was a miracle. Then he held out his hand and grabbed my finger.
‘He opened his eyes and moved his head from side to side. The doctor kept shaking his head saying, “I don’t believe it, I don’t believe it”.’
The Australian mother spoke publicly for the first time yesterday to highlight the importance of skin-on-skin care for sick babies, which is being used at an increasing number of British hospitals.
The twins are preparing to celebrate their fifth birthday later this month. They have a little brother named Charlie, too.
Jamie hasn’t had a single health problem since birth. The parents only recently told the twins about how Jamie almost died at birth. Emily was overcome with emotion and would not stop hugging her brother, Ogg said.
“It’s absolutely astounding. This whole experience makes you cherish them more,” Kate said.
Source:dailymail.co.uk,
