Grayson County TXGenWeb

The Denison Herald
Sunday, December 18, 1921
pg.4

INCUBATOR USED TO KEEP TINY BABE, TWIN PREMATURELY BORN, WEIGHED ONE POUND, NOW A MONTH OLD
Ladies Keep Constant Vigil over Infant who is a Month Old, and now weighes Two Pounds - Little Miss Muffett of City Hospital Takes Active Interest in...

The ladies of Denison...daughter of Mr. and Mrs....West Elm street...two months old at the...is without a doubt...Scores of persons call on her every day but are turned away becausee little Miss Curry must not run the risk of contracting any malicious disease which might snap the precious thread of life for which she battled so valiantly following her birth. Botn on the 10th of November, the little lady is one of a set of perfectly formed twins weighing one pound each, which came to bless the lives of loving Denison parents. Her little sister was not so vigorous as she; from the first the family physician, Dr. J.A. Mayes, said she was a blue baby, with a very weak heart and would not live long. But the infant's career lasted just long enough, 15 days, to be exact, to impress its sweetness and appealing helplessness upon its loving parents and to tear their hearts when it ceased to be. There were times when the attending relatives had hope that the little girl might live and grow up bright and strong but the angel of death beckoned her, and all their dreams of childish laughter, girlhood beauty and womanly charm vanished. So the little twin is but a sweet memory in their hearts, which will ever be influenced for good. And while she rests with God after her brief earthly sojourn, her tiny sister grows stronger every day, trying to fill the void her little sister left in her parents' hearts.

PET OF THE HOSPITAL
The surviving twin is the pet of the hospital. In speaking of the precious charge, Miss J.A. Frederick, superintendent of the institution, said they would be very lonesome when she was taken away. "We all love her," said Miss Frederick, "she is such a helpless mite and we all take pleasure in attending her." And the further talk was suspended for the present, because Miss Frederick had conducted a Herald representative into the hospital nursery and both women were engrossed in the pleasant and interesting business of looking at the babe resting in its crib, a chiffarobe drawer. And if you think that a 2-pound baby (for such is her weight now) doesn't take an interest in life then you are mistaken, because no sooner than the covering from her crib had been removed, she moved in her pillows, stretched her tiny arms above her head and opened her blue eyes wide and looked at her caller inquiringly. Then she blinked them in evident satisfaction...which seemed to imply "Howdy-do, and welcome, stranger." "She is just like any other baby," said the nurse. "She cries at times and she has her happy hours, and she really is a good baby." And then in answer to a question relative to her daily care, the nurse explained that the babe had her daily morning bath of warm water and soft suds with an olive oil rub following it, and that she is then placed on a bed for exercise, which consists of stretching her small arms and limbs, moving her little head from side to side, closing and unclosing her small fists, and yawning. Every 4 hours she is given her feeding of Eagle Brand milk by means of a medicine dropper, consuming 5 teaspoonfulls at each feeding. She seems to enjoy food very much, Miss Frederick stated, and is growing steadily, her strength increasing daily. She is still quite thin, but one readily notes the healthy light in her eyes and the vigor denoted by the actions of this mite of humanity...the nursed have named the tiny twin, "Little Miss Muffett"...The day Miss Muffett was interviewed by a Herald representative, she was reposing dreamily in her chiffarobe drawer, which was padded with pillows, and the correct body temperature was being maintained by an incandescent lamp submerged in a glass jar of water. In addition to this there was a jar at the other end of the chiffarobe filled with water which was kept boiling, and at the foot of the improvised bed was a hot water bottle which was doing its duty...The first crib in which Little Miss Muffett reposed upon her entry into this world was an ordinary clothes basket which the hospital staff converted into an incubator...as time went on Miss Muffet outgrew the basket and so the chiffarobe was chosen...When the children were born the doctor and nurses were in a quandary to know where to put them as the nursery beds were entirely too large and the temperature not correct for such mites...The twin whom the angels called manifested wonderful vitality despite its handicap of a weak heart, and though very ill she battled strenously for her life. On one occasion she was pronounced dead, and the nurses were sadly preparing the loved little creature for burial, when she stretched and opened her eyes. After that it was 2 days before she gave up the struggle for life and journeyed to the land of peace and happiness....premature by almost 3 months...