{"id":10704,"date":"2023-04-20T10:36:17","date_gmt":"2023-04-20T14:36:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/inspirationreport\/?p=10704"},"modified":"2023-04-20T10:36:17","modified_gmt":"2023-04-20T14:36:17","slug":"twins-born-four-months-premature-defy-odds-god-was-in-control","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/inspirationreport\/2023\/04\/twins-born-four-months-premature-defy-odds-god-was-in-control.html","title":{"rendered":"Twins Born Four Months Premature Defy Odds: “God Was in Control”"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"twins\"<\/a>
Guiness World Records\/YouTube<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Kevin Nadarajah and Shakina Rajendram were \u201cin complete shock\u201d after Shakina went into labor prematurely at 21 weeks in March of 2022. Doctors said nothing could be done to save their twins. The Toronto-based couple was recovering from another pregnancy loss when they got the news about their rainbow twins, Adrial and Adiah.<\/p>\n

Since the twins were over four months early, doctors at their local hospital could only offer comfort care, letting them pass naturally. Kevin said, \u201cWe just felt like this isn\u2019t happening.\u201d While the news was impossible, the couple immediately prayed for a miracle. Kevin said, \u201cI was talking to God overnight and just telling him, \u2018We need a sign of hope that things are going to turn around.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

Then, a friend sent him a social media post from the group \u201c22 Matters,\u201d an advocacy group for parents with premature children. After seeing photos of children born at 21 and 22 weeks thriving, the couple convinced their doctors to allow them to transfer to another hospital that would treat the babies if they were born a few days later at 22 weeks. Shakina remembered the nerve-wracking waiting period leading up to the twins\u2019 birth, saying, \u201cWe knew that if they were born even just a few minutes early, it would be a matter of life and death.\u201d<\/p>\n

According to 22 Matters, \u201cOnly 1 in 4 equipped hospitals in the US will treat a 22-weeker, and only 1 in 3 will treat a 23-weeker. This is also true\u00a0in Canada, Australia, and the UK.\u201d\u00a0Shakina was transferred and admitted to Mount Sinai Hospital while still in labor, about an hour and a half drive away, one day later at 21 weeks and six days. Incredibly, the twins were born one hour after they turned 22 weeks gestation.<\/p>\n

Adiah and Adriah weighed less than one pound each and were resuscitated successfully. The children had numerous complications from bowel perforations, lung disease from prematurity, and brain bleeds along the way. Several near-death experiences scared Kevin and Shakina, leaving their twins\u2019 medical team on edge. Shakina said, \u201cWe had many difficult conversations with doctors. Doctors would come to us and say, \u2018Maybe it\u2019s time to withdraw medical care.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n