Sara
Matzoll-Phillips - Preemie Child Member
Hi! My name is Sara Matzoll-Phillips and I have 6 year old twins who were
born at 24 weeks. Ryan and Elizabeth were somewhat delayed but have done
a great job of "catching up". They began kindergarten in the
fall of 1998.
Elizabeth has some fine motor delays and wears glasses due to retinopathy
of prematurity. Her height and weight are within typical ranges for children
her age. She did have surgery for bilateral esotropia at age 1. She is
otherwise healthy, quite shy and very aware of her "early
start" in life! She is doing well in school despite the fine motor
delays and pretty much just loves life!
Ryan is still quite small for his age and that has become an issue as
he has entered school where "almost everyone is bigger than me".
What he lacks in brawn he makes up for in brains! He is a very bright
child and is quite intuitive. He has had 2 inquinal hernia surgeries,
one at a year old and the most recent when he was 5. We had always believed
he had BPD (or Chronic Lung Disease) but recently our pediatrician questioned
that diagnosis and we now believe he didn't have BPD but rather aspiration
pneumonia that was the cause of the damage to his lungs. He has no indicaiton
of BPD either on x-ray or symptomatically currently.
Any preemie parent you meet will tell you we are a special breed of people
- parents of preemies and their preemies - and we are! We know how precious
life is and we cherish every minute we have with our "little miracles"!
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