Preemie twins weigh just 15 ounces

By Ben Turner via SWNS

A mom has given birth prematurely to hand-sized twins one weighing just 15oz , but is told she can't hold them as they have just a 20 per cent chance of survival.

Cheryl Guile, 38, is living "hour by hour" as her two baby girls - Daisy and Lily - fight for their lives in intensive care after being born last Wednesday ( October 20).

"I woke up that morning and didn't know I was going to be having the twins,"said Cheryl from Milton Keynes, England.

Cheryl wasn't even at the stage of a 'viable pregnancy' when her water suddenly broke at 23 weeks and four days.

She gave birth to the tiny twins - who are barely the size of her hand - via a caesarean and they weighed just 15 oz and 1 lb 1 oz.

But Cheryl hasn't been allowed to hold her babies yet as neonatal experts monitor them 24 hours a day in their incubators to guard against any complications.

"I've gone from being pregnant with them to not being able to hold them. We can touch them if we sanitize our hands, but we've not been allowed to hold them," she said.

"It's been like a whirlwind. We're just taking it hour-by-hour.

"When they were born we were told they had a 20 per cent chance of survival. The odds weren't very good at all.

"We didn't know if they were going to make it through the night."

Doctors are carrying out daily brain and lung scans on the twins as they stay in an NICU ward.

"But as the days go by, they're improving. Every day we get a bit more positive," Cheryl said.

Cheryl has even started feeding them with her own milk, which is administered directly through a tube into their stomachs.

Cheryl, a support worker at the Salvation Army, already has four children aged nine to 18, as well as a one-year-old granddaughter.

She initially went to Milton Keynes Hospital before being transferred to John Radcliffe Hospital in Oxford, where there are specialist neonatal doctors.

"The doctors said I had signs of infection and put me down to the delivery suite for a caesarean," she said.

"There was a team for me and each baby. It was really scary."

Cheryl and partner Ray, 36, are now staying in a charity-provided accommodation just across from the hospital.

The mom said that the past week went without any issues until Monday night, when Daisy suffered a collapsed lung.

"We didn't know if she was going to make it through the night," she said.

"It was the first time something bad has happened - it was really terrifying.

"The doctors said it would be up and down, and that was the first down.

"We love them so much and they've been doing so well."