Twins Henry and Sienna Nash born at 27 weeks home for Christmas

Twins who were born at 27 weeks and battled through several intense months in hospital will celebrate their first Christmas at home.

As she watched over her tiny newborns — a tangle of wires and tubes keeping them alive — it was the thought of celebrating their first Christmas at home that gave Georgia Shapero strength.

Henry and Sienna Nash were born at 27 weeks, weighing just 750 and 1019 grams respectively, but this December — after more than four months in hospitals — their parents got their Christmas wish to take them both home.

The first-time mum said there were days where she thought this would never happen, when she and her partner Matt Nash couldn’t see past the blur of NICU life.

But she held onto hope and pictured walking out of Monash Children’s Hospital’s front door with the babies she longed to take home at the end of each day in their arms.

“I just have this image of waking up on Christmas morning with them … opening presents for the first time as a family of four on the bed,” she said.

“You have these visuals and think ‘we’re going to get there’ – and we did’.

“We just had the best care and support from Monash.

“Until you’re thrown into that environment, you just don’t realise how incredible and how knowledgeable everyone is.”

Twins home for Christmas after four months in the Monash NICU after being born at 27 weeks, Sienna and Henry Nash. Picture: Mark Stewart

Proud parents Georgia Shapero and Matt Nash with their twins, Sienna and Henry. Picture: Mark Stewart

She didn’t expect such an intense start to parenthood, to be rushed into an emergency caesarean on August 10 after her waters broke, to watch her son fight sepsis twice or undergo hernia repair surgery before he could even crawl.

But she said she drew on her babies’ courage, “inspired” by their resilience.

“There were some really tough moments,” she said.

“But you just find strength you never knew you had.”

She said each milestone – from the first time they wore clothes to moving from NICU to special care – made “her heart skip a beat”, each one a “step closer to the door”.

“Leaving your babies every night is really tough,” she said.

“But knowing they were in good hands helps you sleep.”

Sienna and Henry spent months at Monash Children’s Hospital. Picture: Supplied

Georgia Shapero holds twins Sienna and Henry in hospital. Picture: Supplied

She pointed to the team that jumped into action after their birth, the special care nurses who let Georgia wheel Sienna over to Henry’s NICU cot during the day and “ran between as needed”, and the staff who dropped in to say goodbye after news that Henry was leaving on December 5 — 13 days after his sister — began to spread.

“You can’t ask for much more,” she said.

Georgia said those first nights at their Glen Iris home were “really special” and the twins were now “thriving”, while she has been finding joy in the everyday.

“It’s the little things that mean the most,” she said.

“When I put them together, Henry just settles.

“Sienna on the other hand is ‘little miss independent’.

“We’re just so happy to be home.”

Monash Children’s Hospital newborn service director Dr Alice Stewart said it was a “privilege” to care for the youngest patients.

“(It’s) such a special time when they are able to go home with their family,” she said.