PROFILE
14
Miracles really do happen — AND HERE’S THE PROOF
It’s double the trouble when they get to the terrible twos. But for Sally and Andrew Knight, their story is at a whole other level. ALEX GRETGRIX heard from the couple who welcomed their bundles of joy into the world far earlier than expected be considered one of the strongest creatures on earth, but a mother can bring a whole other level of strength. Even during a textbook pregnancy, birth and the first few years of their child’s life, there are always challenges a mother and family must overcome. But none more so than Sally Knight and her family. Sally and her husband Andrew always dreamt of having a family. After years of trying they were blessed with a gorgeous healthy little boy Hudson. Wishing to give their son a little brother or sister, two years later they were shocked to say the least to fall pregnant with twins. “After the struggles we went through to become pregnant, the pregnancy was very straightforward. I loved being pregnant”, she said. “I went to my 28-week scan and everything was fine.” But on October 2, 2017 at 29 weeks pregnant, things changed rapidly. “I woke up at around 5 am, I had been tossing and turning all night,” Sally said. “I didn’t think anything of it, having given birth before it didn’t feel like labour, to me it was as if the twins had just changed positions”. But when she got up, she noticed a small
a woman could
MARCH 2020
amount of blood. “Having never had any ‘spotting’ before I woke up my husband and he insisted we go to hospital to make sure everything was okay,” she said. “I did say I’d drive myself to save waking Hudson, thankfully Andrew said otherwise”. Sally was taken to Echuca Regional Health (ERH) where she thought she’d be put on bed rest worst case scenario. Relieved to see Dr Peter Nesbitt on duty she was checked to see what was happening. The next words are still very clear in Sally’s mind ‘you are fulling dilated; they are about to come out’. “I just couldn’t believe it. I think Dr Nesbitt and I both went white.” At the time, ERH didn’t have the facilities nor the resources to deliver premature babies. “Thankfully, Dr Nesbitt, Dr Claire Goodman and the ERH team whom I have so much gratitude for, quickly took action.” “It was too late to think about any pain relief and I was asked to try and resist the urge to push until the Melbourne Paediatric Infant Perinatal Emergency Retrieval (PIPER) team arrived but unfortunately Teddy was born half an hour before they arrived at 8.30 am”. Dr Goodman kept him breathing until the
PIPER team arrived, within three hours of being phoned and then taking control. “It’s amazing, I’m so grateful”, Sally said. In all the madness, Sally was constantly asking if Hudson was okay. He was being cared for by a volunteer outside the door. “With babies born so prematurely it’s unusual for them to be born crying but both twins were so I felt some sort of relief,” she said. Her second baby, Ayla, was born an hour and a half after her brother. “Ayla should have been born via caesarean as I wasn’t contracting but again there wasn’t time to go through that process and there were greater risks involved”. “Without any pain relief, it was quite traumatic. “Three different doctors attempted to get her out, grabbing her arms and legs without any luck”. “With thanks to Dr Goodman she was eventually born breech”. Teddy weighed a mere 1.21 kg (2.66 pounds) and Ayla weighed 1.14 kg (2.51 pounds) which is fairly big even for a singleton at 29 weeks. “Another blessing on our side”, Sally said. Both babies were intubated and as soon as they were stable enough were air lifted to the Royal Children’s Hospital (RCH). “I had a shower, left the hospital and went
