On March 25,2010, Kate and David Ogg heard the words every parent fears: Their newborn wasn’t going to make it. Their twins—a girl and a boy—were born two minutes apart and 14 weeks premature, weighing just over two pounds each. Doctors had tried to save the boy for 20 minutes but saw no improvement. His heartbeat was nearly gone, and he’d stopped breathing. The baby had just moments to live.
“I saw him gasp, but the doctor said it was no use,” Kate told the Daily Mail five years later. “I know it sounds stupid, but if he was still gasping, that was a sign of life. I wasn’t going to give up easily.”
Still, the Sydney couple knew this was likely goodbye. In an effort to cherish her last minutes with the tiny boy, Kate asked to hold him.
“I wanted to meet him, and for him to know us,” Kate told Today. “We’d resigned ourselves to the fact that we were going to lose him, and we were just trying to make the most of those last, precious moments.”
Kate unwrapped the boy, whom the couple had already named Jamie, from his hospital blanket and ordered David to take his shirt off and join them in bed. The first-time parents wanted their son to be as warm as possible and hoped the skin-to-skin contact would improve his condition. They also talked to him.
“We were trying to persuade him to stay,” Kate told the Daily Mail. “We explained his name and that he had a twin that he had to look out for and how hard we had tried to have him.”
Then something miraculous happened. Jamie gasped again—and then he started breathing. Finally, he reached for his father’s finger.
The couple’s lost boy had made it.
“We’re the luckiest people in the world,” David told Today. Eight years later, Jamie and his sister, Emily, are happy and healthy. The Oggs only recently told the kids the story of their birth. “Emily burst into tears,” Kate said. “She was really upset, and she kept hugging Jamie. This whole experience makes you cherish them more.”
4. Why was the newborn not going to make it?
A.Because he had just moments to live. |
B.Because his heartbeat was nearly gone. |
C.Because he was 14 weeks premature. |
D.Because he weighed just over 2 pounds. |
5. What does Kate’s words mean in paragraph 4?
A.The doctors thought it no use saving the boy. |
B.The doctor had no idea how to save the boy. |
C.Kate was prepared to resign her position. |
D.Kate cherished her last minutes with the boy. |
6. What did the first-time parents did to save the boy?
A.To have eye contact. | B.To touch him skin to skin. |
C.To tell him stories. | D.To grasp his hands tightly. |
7. Which is the best title of the article?
A.Wonders of love | B.Premature twins |
C.Life-giving touch | D.Precious moments |