novita news - Novita Children's Services

like two peasIn 1998, expectant parents Lilyand Dean Ongarato received thebest news of their lives – they werehaving twins! But just a few monthslater, their world was turned upsidedown when a few days after aroutine 25-week ultrasound, Lilydiscovered her pregnancy wasn’tgoing as perfectly as she thought.‘This was in October, and mybabies weren’t due until January,’Lily says.‘So when I went into labor and thedoctor decided to do an emergencycaesarian, I went into shock. Iwasn’t ready, my bags weren’tpacked – it all felt like a bad dream.’That night Lily and Dean welcomedtwo tiny boys to their family, Josephand Francesco. Weighing justover one pound each (around 900grams), the doctors feared for thebabies’ lives and warned the newparents to prepare for the worst.‘We were beside ourselves for thatfirst 24 hours, then we found outthey’d be critical for at least anotherfortnight,’ Lily says.‘The hardest day of my life wasleaving the hospital after three dayswithout my babies.’For the rest of 1998, Lily and Deanfelt truly helpless as they watchedtheir tiny twins struggle to breatheon their own. Both boys werediagnosed with hernias just twoweeks into their short lives, andFrancesco also came down withmeningitis within the first month.‘But through all that uncertainty,there were some incredible, shiningmoments,’ Lily says.‘I can remember clearly the dayI held my babies for the first time– they were almost two weeks oldthen – and the day they first openedtheir eyes. And we were so proudwhen Francesco finally took his firstbreath on his own.‘Every milestone was a miracle tobe celebrated.’And celebrate they did, along withthe entire hospital, when the twinsmade their ‘100 day birthday’. Afew days later, 13 weeks after thebirth, Lily and Dean finally took theirbabies home for the first time.But life with two premature babieswasn’t smooth sailing. Francescowas readmitted to hospital just 24hours after coming home, then Lilyand Dean spent months shuttlingthe boys to countless doctorsand specialists for therapy anddevelopment checks.It was at one of these checks thatdoctors diagnosed 11-month-oldJoseph with Cerebral Palsy (CP).‘We didn’t know anything aboutCP then, so as soon as we met ourNovita therapists I started pumpingthem for information and doing lotsof my own research,’ Lily says.12To support Novita families like the Ongaratos, complete and return the