(NECN: Latoya Edwards) -The floor at the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Boston was buzzing.
Twin baby girls born five weeks premature 32 years ago, returned to the NICU for a visit.
Sarah Housman said, “We were born five weeks early. I was five pounds, Lizzy was four pounds.”
Elizabeth Housman said, “I was jaundiced and I wasn't eating well. We were rushed to the Neonatal Unit of the Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center.”
Sarah said, “Because I was born so early, my lungs weren't fully developed. I needed extra time to have for my lungs to develop.”
Elizabeth said, “We just looked so small, so tiny, so fragile, so vulnerable.”
What’s amazing about their story is not only did they survive, but both went on to become doctors at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center. It doesn't stop there. Both went on to marry doctors who work at Beth Israel as well.
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Sarah said, “We feel like our story will inspire some hope to some families.”
Thirty-two years ago Rhonda, their mother, didn't know what to expect.
Rhonda Lushan said, “I was fortunate enough for the physicians in the room when I delivered for them to allow me to hold them. It’s very scary.”
Emotions were flooding back during the special visit.
Lushan said, “To come up to the NICU and to actually see Heidi, who was the nurse who took care of my daughters, that was emotional.”
She continued, “How wonderful that she's still here, which also speaks volumes of this hospital."
Heidi Gates was the nurse who took care of little Sarah and Lizzie 32 years ago.
Gates said, “She had some feeding issues. She wasn’t able to take enough on her own so she had to have tube feedings. They both help maintaining their temperatures so they had to be in incubators.”
She said, “I’ve been doing this a long time so one of the things I cherish the most is seeing the babies that we’ve taken care of come back. Seeing two intelligent women who've made careers, wonderful lives for themselves to come back, it was a thrill.”
The visit by the Housman twins also sheds important light on the advances made in neonatal medicine over the decades.
Dr. Dewayne Pursley said, “I think that’s reflected in the fact that infant mortality rate is half of what it was 25 years ago. It’s a little unusual to have them come back after three decades. it’s wonderful to see how Sarah and Elizabeth have obviously thrived.”
