ATHABASCA - A pair of twin girls from Athabasca continue to do well at the Royal Alexandra Hospital in Edmonton after arriving in this world two-and-a-half months premature.
Alysha and Mischa Swan-Miller arrived in the world to proud parents Glen Miller Jr. and Sarah Swan at the Athabasca Healthcare Centre Jan. 11, the first babies of 2020 to be born at this facility. Alysha was born at 5:45 a.m., while Mischa was born just before 11 a.m.
Amanda Miller, the twins’ grandmother, said the babies were delivered by Doctors Michael Berger and Johanna Klopper with some assistance from some Emergency Medical Technicians from Athabasca and from Edmonton.
“Doctors had to call in a specialized unit out of Edmonton because they were born so premature,” Miller explained. “(Both girls) were transferred to Edmonton right after their birth and will likely still be in the hospital for another couple of months.”
But overall, she said the girls are doing better now than when they were first born.
“They’re actually doing pretty good,” Miller continued. “It’s their first-born children, and they continue to travel back and forth to Edmonton. They go down to Edmonton for about a week, then come back home for a couple of days.”
She added babies who are born premature are typically not let out of the hospital until their health is cleared.
“They also have to reach a goal weight of five lbs. or more before they are let out,” Miller said. “At birth, Alysha weighed two lbs. 14 oz, while Misha weighed in at three lbs. eight oz. It was a really long morning at the hospital since they were born just over five hours apart.”
She also said the parents continue to keep their hopes up.
“They’re hanging in there,” Miller stated. “The times were tough since they were not expecting the babies so soon. It was an emergency delivery, but the girls continue to do really good.”
At this point, Miller said she’s only seen her granddaughters twice so far.
“I have two more daughters still living at home, ages 16 and nine. It’s tough for me to juggle back and forth as a result,” she explained.
Miller said when the twins finally do come home, they will be closely monitored.
“They have supports in place in the community that they may need in terms of health care,” she explained. “The Healthy Families Healthy Futures program in Athabasca will have a worker take them to their appointments or arranges it for them. They also give them supports for where they can get items for their kids at a very low cost.”
