Young mum LaTroya Woolridge was terrified when she went into labour at just 24 weeks pregnant with twins.
Her husband was out of town, so when she began experiencing agonising labour pains on January 17, she had to drive herself to hospital.
“It was the most terrifying experience of my life,” she said. “It was raining that morning, and I wasn’t sure I would even make it to the hospital.”
When she got to hospital, doctors told her she would have to give birth. However, LaTroya only delivered one of her twins, a little girl whom she called Amara.
Amara was only one pound, three ounces, and LaTroya was afraid she wouldn’t survive.
"Initially, we were told that Amara's heart tone could not be detected, so when I finally delivered her and saw her feet moving, I was filled with joy that she was alive, but afraid of what would happen next," LaTroya told People.
LaTroya’s other baby Arthur, stayed in the womb. This is the result of a very rare condition called interval twin delivery, where one child is born before the other. It occurs in less than one in every 1,000 twin births, according to medical experts.
LaTroya’s doctors monitored Arthur and decided to try and keep him in utero for as long as possible to give him the best chance of survival.
They decided to deliver little Arthur by C-section two weeks later on January 31. He weighed two pounds, two ounces at birth.
Over the two week waiting period, LaTroya, a high school counsellor, and her husband Arthur, 37, an oil rig move coordinator, went through “an array of emotions”.
“We both cried several times, yet we also felt a calmness over us because we knew that Amara had the power to continue fighting,” she says.
“It also gave me the strength to continue resting so Arthur would have a better chance at survival.”
The twins are still in NICU at Memorial Hermann hospital in Texas but they are making great progress. They both now weigh over five pounds and are thriving.
Their parents say they are “overjoyed” that their twins are doing so well.
“We are happier than we have ever been and excited about our parenthood journey,” LaTroya said. “We are amazed at the miracle we have watched before our eyes."
Both parents say they “plan to do everything within our power to ensure the twins have a healthy, happy, and successful life."
