Alumni in the News
Chad T. Petersen – B.S., Finance, 2007
Herald Journal -- April 22, 2008
Definitely a miracle
Nearly 2 years later, Logan couple look back on birth of twin girls at just 22 weeks
By Charles Geraci staff writer
When Chelsey Petersen found out she was pregnant, it was hardly believable since doctors told her the chances of ever having children were slim. When an ultrasound revealed she was having twin girls, she was overjoyed.
But when she went into labor two weeks later, she was scared.
The twins, Brooklyn and Raegan, were born at 22 weeks – four and half months premature. Raegan weighed 1 pound and 1 ounce, and Brooklyn an ounce more.
"There were so many emotions at that point," Chelsey said. "I went from being in complete shock . . . to being OK, this really is happening. What's the next step? How long are they gonna survive?"
At 3 and 4 days old, each of the twins underwent heart surgery to fix a valve in her heart. They relied on ventilators to breathe while living in the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) at McKay-Dee Hospital in Ogden.
"When they were born, their lungs were not fully developed," Chelsey said. "Their eyes were fused shut. Their ears were just barely starting to form on the outside of their head. In essence, we just watched them develop on the outside."
The twins were so tiny that their hands and arms could fit inside the Petersens' wedding rings, with room for the rings to spin around.
While Chelsey stayed close by at one of the hospital's homes in Ogden, her husband, Chad, was going to school and working fulltime.
"Leaving them was probably the toughest," he said, adding he and Chelsey were constantly talking on their cell phones or text messaging one another.
When the twins were about 2 months old, Chelsey decided to come home to Logan for the weekend, but not before another scare.
With the ventilator taped to her shirt, she was getting ready to hold Brooklyn when her daughter "started crashing really quick."
"She stopped breathing," Chelsey said. "She ended up going very, very dark purple, almost black, and they had to resuscitate her and bring her back."
After six months in the NICU, doctors finally allowed the Petersens to bring their daughters home – on apnea monitors and oxygen.
The twins – now nearly 22 months old – have only been off oxygen for the past two weeks.
"When we first came home, just going to the doctor was a hassle," said Chad, noting the twins' oxygen had to be switched to portable tanks.
"It's a new-found freedom," Chelsey added.
Now, the twins are "small for their age," Chad said, but doing well.
"Right now, the main thing is just getting them to talk and getting them walking more and being more steady on their feet," Chelsey said.
The Petersens were told by doctors that Brooklyn and Raegan are the earliest-born surviving twins so far at McKay-Dee Hospital.
"Nobody has really ever seen 22-week-old babies survive so they really can't say, 'Oh, you're not gonna have any problems,'" Chelsey said. "But everybody's amazed with how well they've done and the outcome that we've had. Definitely, it's a miracle."