Against All Odds . . . and then some

I've been researching statistics on the internet and have found a few.  Mostly, I was disappointed in the research out there (or I'm not looking in the right place).  The only type of statistics about micropreemies that can be found are statistics of viability.  I would have liked to find more research on prematurity.  Here are some of the facts that I was able to dig up (not 100% sure on the reliability of these statistics).

According to the March of Dimes, 1 in 8 babies is born prematurely.  Of those only 6% are born at 28 weeks or less.  No statistics were shown for the percentage of babies born at 24 weeks specifically, but I would imagine it is somewhere around 1%.  I scoured the internet looking for this statistic, and I don't think it exists.

According to the data from the National Institute of Child Health & Human Development, Camdyn had a 49% chance of survival and only a 35% chance of survival without profound neurodevelopmental impairment.  Cade had a 71% chance of survival and only a 54% chance of survival without profound neurodevelopmental impairment.  These charts were based on birth weight, gender, twin gestation, and ability of mother to take steroid injections prior to delivery which we were able to do.  These charts were developed in 2003, so the numbers may be slightly higher now.  According to both of their MRIs and their development to this point, they will not have profound neurodevelopmental impairment, so we can count our lucky stars that we somehow managed to fall in the 35% for Camdyn and the 54% for Cade.

The world record for Most Premature Twins (all surviving) is 22 weeks 1 day.  Our twins were born 2 weeks later than this for which we are very thankful.  That is not a record that anyone wants.

If the fFn test that your obstetrician takes when you are pregnant comes back negative, there is a less than 1% chance of having a premature delivery within the next 2 weeks.  Interestingly enough, I had a negative result on the fFn test that my ob did at 23 weeks and had the babies one week later.  I am the less than 1%!

Fun twin facts - The chances of having naturally occurring fraternal twins is 1 in 90.  The chances of my daughters having fraternal twins is 1 in 17.  I hope and pray that they do not have twins after all we have been through!  Maybe there will be a way to make sure that only one egg is releasing at a time when they are ready to have children.

Just thought I would share some of the statistics I was able to find.