Mitch and Aimee Dryer know what it’s like to spend countless hours in the hospital. Three years ago, Mitch, a firefighter, was critically injured during a blaze. Together, the young couple faced the realities of life and death. That experience would be an important lesson for their next journey. After two years of trying to have a child they learned Aimee was pregnant with twins. When the babies were born much too soon, the Dryers found themselves facing the realities of life and death once again.

“Almost losing my husband, it’s almost the same with my child. I didn’t think it was possible for me to lose them,” Aimee said of the twins.

On Dec. 31, 2009, nearly three years after Mitch’s accident, the couple’s children, Daniel and Emeri, were born 13 weeks premature. They spent their first three months in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit at Crouse Hospital in Syracuse. Daniel weighed 1 pound, 12 ounces, and Emeri weighed 1 pound, 15 ounces.

Mitch said that when Daniel was born, his neck and part of his face had been pushed to one side in the womb and the deformity was affecting his ability to breathe.

“The doctor came over right away after I delivered him and said he might not make it because there was an obstruction in his airway,” Aimee said.

Mitch said they rushed Daniel to the Ear Nose and Throat Clinic and doctors were able to get a tube in his throat to restore his breathing.

Two weeks after Daniel was born, the Dryers received a phone call from the doctors saying the baby’s heart had stopped and they had to reintubate him.

“We almost lost him twice,” Mitch said.

About a month after their birth, Emeri started being lethargic and having seizures. Aimee said the doctors did blood cultures and discovered the infant had a staph infection. After seeing that she wasn’t moving her legs, doctors did an MRI and found an abscess on Emeri’s spine, which doctors removed in an emergency surgery.

“They told us that if they hadn’t caught the staph infection when they did, we would be talking about her in the past tense,” Aimee said.

The Dryers’ said Emeri lost the use of her legs from the nerve damage caused by the surgery. They are optimistic she will regain function as she continues physical therapy.

Despite Emeri’s setback, her health improved and she was release from the hospital after spending 84 days in the NICU.

Aimee is no stranger to long days at the hospital. In April of 2007, Mitch was critically injured during a fire at a bowling alley. The roof collapsed, trapping Mitch for 20 minutes. He was rushed to the hospital where he received treatment for third- and fourth-degree burns over 20 percent of his body. He was in a coma for two weeks and spent 59 days in the hospital. He eventually had his right arm amputated.

Aimee spent many hours visiting with Mitch. She said the doctors allowed her to do many of the medical procedures for him. She was able to take part in cleaning his skin, changing his bandages and removing staples.

Because Daniel is still in the NICU, the couple’s daily routine consists of taking turns to visit him in the hospital for about four to five hours, while the other parent stays home to take care of Emeri. They trade duties every other day.

The Dryers’ said this was the best possible way to spend time with Daniel in the hospital, and still take care of Emeri at home.

The couple said Daniel spent more time in the NICU because he was being fed through a tube in his nose. Aimee said he is now eating every feeding from a bottle so they were able to remove the tube. She said Daniel is expected to come home following a surgery to fix a hernia in his abdomen.

The couple said they are looking forward to having both children home soon and being a complete family.

“To look back and to think that it has been almost three months, and to see from where they were to where they are now, I don’t think is anything short of amazing,” Aimee said.

The NICU staff at Crouse Hospital said they are happy to see Emeri go home and they are looking forward to seeing Daniel go home as well.

“The most interesting thing about the NICU is we get these babies that are admitted and the best thing is sending them home with their parents,” said Kathy Costello, nurse manager for the NICU. “A lot of these babies are so wanted by their parents that it’s nice when they walk out that door with their babies.”