Hard to believe it's been five years since the public was caught up in the dramatic births of the Morrison sextuplets -- five of whom died shortly after birth in June 2007 in Minneapolis. But the passage of time is readily apparent in images posted on the Morrison family blog of the one preemie who survived -- Sylas. He was born at less than 23 weeks gestation at a weight of 10 ounces. And now ...
This latest picture was posted by mother Brianna Morrison, and shows Sylas back in medical care receiving injections to help loosen his muscles and increase his mobility. Sylas has cerebral palsy, a condition that is more frequent in children born prematurely.
Last Sunday's story about multiple births got me thinking about the Morrisons again. There was a time when they were in the news on almost a daily basis. They resisted calls from doctors to selectively reduce Brianna's pregnancy, which was achieved with fertility drugs, and were aware of the risks to Brianna and to the babies.
I swapped emails with Brianna, and she gave me permission to link to her blog and to tell readers about it. The Morrisons now live in Wisconsin, and Sylas has two siblings! Brianna was busy getting her kids through stomach illnesses, so hopefully we'll have a chance to catch up later. But her blog is filled with the thoughts and emotions of the Morrisons over the past five years.
And if you want to smile, go to this older blog post about Sylas and hear his laughter.
