Ramy and Jonah – our journey of having premature twins

In March 2021 our beautiful boys, Ramy and Jonah, were born 7 weeks early. After a short few minutes of cuddles, they were whisked away to NICU. We joined them a little after, and were able to take pictures with both boys in my arms. As the COVID pandemic was still in full swing, we were unable to have family and our older son visiting, and so we had to video call both sets of grandparents.

Ramy had been diagnosed with a severe heart defect earlier in my pregnancy and it meant that after birth, we would only have a short period of time with him. The NICU staff were absolutely brilliant. We were taken to a quiet room and had a few hours of quality time with both boys, and Ramy passed away peacefully in my husband’s arms.

Jonah had to stay in NICU and Special Care for 5 more weeks, and had a few
complications which were eventually put down to his prematurity. In his first year, we had multiple trips to hospital because of chest infections and he has recently had skull surgery due to craniosynostosis. He’s still open to a few specialities and has regular hospital appointments throughout the year.

The journey of having premature babies has been a rollercoaster. We’ve experienced the worst of prematurity with losing Ramy, but also seen his twin Jonah thriving despite the challenges that prematurity has thrown his way. We are still navigating our way through the consequences of the twins being born early, but there is one thing I know for sure and it is that Ramy would be so proud of how his little brother Jonah has grown and matured in the last 3 and a half years.