DYSART, Iowa (AP) - Twin Iowa girls who faced long odds when they were born around the 22nd week of pregnancy are celebrating a miracle milestone - they turn 2 on Tuesday.
Guinness World Records has recognized Kambry and Keeley Ewoldt as the world’s most premature twins, The Des Moines Register reported. Jade Ewoldt of Dysart gave birth to the girls on Nov. 24, 2018. Kambry weighed nearly 1 pound (0.45 kilograms) and Keeley weighed a little over 1 pound.
Today, the girls love singing “Baby Shark,” doing the Chicken Dance and painting pictures, and they have their own distinctive personalities. Ewoldt said Kambry is more of a tomboy and Keeley is very “girly.”
They entered the world fighting to survive. The girls spent the first four months of their lives in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit at the University of Iowa Stead Family Children’s Hospital.
As infants, Kambry and Keeley were diagnosed with severe bronchopulmonary dysplasia, a chronic lung disease that makes breathing difficult. They have had to receive oxygen through nasal cannulas almost their entire lives. They were taken off oxygen earlier this month.
The coronavirus poses a significant risk, so the family is staying indoors most of the time.
Jade Ewoldt has a Facebook page called “ Keeley and Kambry’s Tribe,” with nearly 10,000 followers.
“I’m thankful for the uneven road that brought us here even when I do not understand,” she posted recently.
She hopes their story can reach and support families going through similar struggles.
Please read our comment policy before commenting.