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Jon and Janae Dingaoyo are eager for their twins, Akenji and Asanti, to come home from Duke University Medical Center.
Twins Akenji, left, and Asanti Dingaoyo both weighed less than 2 pounds when they were born. Both are around 4 pounds now.
Janae and Jon Dingaoyo of Burlington had their first children, twins, in December, but the babies have never left the hospital.
They finally are scheduled to come home from Duke University Medical Center’s neonatal intensive care unit in April, and the parents couldn’t be more excited.
The Dingaoyos met while attending UNC Greensboro and were married last June. One month later, Janae found out she was pregnant.
“At six weeks, I was measuring like it was nine weeks. I was having a lot of nausea and went to my doctor. They did an ultrasound and we found out that I was going to have twins. That was my husband’s dream. We were on cloud nine,” she said.
She said that her first trimester was filled with nausea. The second trimester, her legs started hurting.
“It hurt to walk. It felt like my bones were softening, like my body was getting ready for labor,” she said.
In her 21st week, Dingaoyo was still going to work at her job at Andersen Sterilizers.
She calls her supervisor, Bridgette Yeager, her work mom and credits her with helping her through some tough times.
“At 22 weeks, I asked Bridgette about some issues I was having, and she told me to call my doctor. They told me to come right away to Alamance Regional’s delivery unit,” she said. “I’d started having contractions and had my husband and family rush to the hospital. Doctors came in and decided to air-lift me to Duke hospital’s NICU. The propellors and all of the commotion made me more stressed, but everyone helped me and were wonderful.”
She was admitted to Duke on Dec. 15, and on Christmas the twins decided it was just about time.
“We were told that they only had a 20% chance of survival, but I held them in for 11 days after being admitted to Duke and was told that every day they were inside me would help their chances,” she said.
Jon Dingaoyo had gone home but got back to hospital in time — though he wasn’t sure he was going to make it through.
“I tried to give birth vaginally,” Janae said, “but a C-Section was the best option for the health of the boys. When he (Jon) got there, he whispered to me that he was going to pass out. It was funny. I was comforting him. But he really has been a trouper.”
The boys were born the day after Christmas. She said that they are her and Jon’s Christmas miracles.
Asanti, which means “thank you,” was born weighing one pound seven ounces, and Akenji, which means “he gives light to everything he touches,” was one pound four ounces.
The boys have had numerous health problems, but Janae Dingaoyo said they are improving at a rapid pace.
“It was hard in the beginning, seeing them like that. But they are the greatest gifts and are meeting their goals. They have to be at 5 pounds to be released, and they’re both at 4. They also have to take a bottle, a pacifier and breathe on their own. They’re well on their way,” she said.
The Dingaoyos are “over-the-moon excited” that the twins will be coming home and have been working on the nursery, she said.
“This has been a rollercoaster ride, for sure, but we’re doing awesome. The boys are smiling and even starting showing their personalities,” she said. “We can’t wait to bring them home.”
