Identical twins Audrey and Ella were born nine weeks premature, each weighing about two pounds. Despite their early arrival, both girls were healthy and needed very little intervention during the few weeks they spent in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit at Baylor Scott & White Medical Center – Hillcrest.
However, at a regular check-up when they were about a year old, the twins’ physician realized their foreheads both looked pointed rather than flat. After a referral to plastic surgery at Baylor Scott & White McLane Children’s, Audrey and Ella were diagnosed with Metopic Craniosynostosis.
The human skull is made up of several bony plates connected by fibrous joints called sutures, which fuse over time as an infant grows. When the sutures fuse too early, the skull develops in a triangular shape and restricts the brain’s growth, potentially causing issues with vision, learning and behavior.
At 19 months old, Audrey and Ella each underwent 10-hour Cranial Vault reconstructive surgery at McLane Children’s to reshape their skulls. Now six years old, the girls are doing great.
“Audrey and Ella are growing and thriving like no other,” said their mother, Amanda. “With their scars hidden under their hair, you wouldn’t even know that they went through this.”
As our 2024 Children’s Miracle Network Hospitals Champions, Audrey and Ella will spend the year representing McLane Children’s in the community and sharing the importance of donations to the hospital.
“Donors may not know how much their gifts mean to parents whose kids are treated at McLane Children’s,” Amanda said. “We spent a lot of time in the hospital, and I just knew how much my girls, as well as my husband and I, were being cared for. Their donations are truly priceless.”
