Twins prepare to spend their first Christmas at home after being born 10 WEEKS early

The pair made a surprise appearance on December 15 last year at just 27 weeks but spent the entire festive season in hospital.

Weighing in at just over 2lbs each, the babies spent weeks in incubators. Ollie was on a drip for additional nutrition as his digestive tract was not fully developed and Hope received extra oxygen after doctors spotted a murmur and a hole in her heart.

Looking at the pair now, it’s hard to imagine the fight they, parents Josie and Dean and big sister Bethany, eight, had on their hands.

It was not until late February the babies were finally allowed home to Broughty Ferry, in Dundee, after the added scare of influenza, which landed Hope back in intensive care and Ollie in an incubator as a “precautionary measure”.

To make up for the lack of a “proper Christmas” last year, Mrs Parfitt started preparations weeks in advance and wants to give her family a celebration to remember.

She said: “It was hard last year. We visited the twins in hospital in the morning after Bethany opened a couple of her presents.

“When we got back home and I was cooking and she was playing with her toys it really hit me we should have had the whole family with us. I was really emotional.

Last year was so full of worry it wasn’t really much of a celebration

Mum Josie Parfitt

“It never really felt like Christmas because the twins were in hospital. So I started early this year to make up for it.

“We’ve had the tree and all the decorations up well before December. I just want the festive season to be the best ever for us.

“Last year was so full of worry it wasn’t really much of a celebration.”

Ollie and Hope were a surprise for the family in more ways than one. They were conceived when their parents were on a waiting list to start fertility treatment and a scan later suggested they were expecting twin boys.

While Ollie was born naturally, Hope needed an emergency C-section.

Mrs Parfitt, 30, recalled: “We were told at the 22-week scan we were having two wee boys so I think the biggest surprise was that one of the babies was actually a girl.

“They were so small. It’s hard to believe Ollie is now standing up and walking against furniture. Hope is crawling and tries to stand up but she is more cautious.

“Bethany was walking at 10 months but then the twins are really two months younger than their actual age because they were born so prematurely.

“We’ve come a long way since last December and I can’t wait to have the whole family around for Christmas this time around.”

TwinsUK, an organisation supporting families with multiple births, said Ollie and Hope were “very premature” although it was not “unheard of” to have twins born at 27 weeks.

Founder Deltyh Raffell added: “Around 50 per cent of all twins are born prematurely but usually after the 30-week mark.”