Aurora twins make blankets for babies in hospital that saved their lives

When Hanna and Rachel Friedenberger were born 100 days early on Feb. 24, 2001, they were given a 10 percent chance of surviving.

The preemies were both 12 inches long and weighed under two pounds. They suffered brain bleeds, underwent surgeries and spent months in the neonatal intensive care unit at Advocate Lutheran General Hospital in Park Ridge.

"When we were sitting at their bedside and we didn't know if they were going to live another day, to imagine them at 16 years old - you don't let yourself go there," said their mom, Karri Friedenberger. "You dare to dream it."

Now with their 16th birthday approaching, Hanna and Rachel are celebrating the milestone by making and donating no-sew fleece blankets to babies in the NICU that saved the their lives.

Their goal is to make 100 blankets - one for each day they were born early.

"Since we personally survived premature birth, we thought we should give back," Rachel said. "I'm happy to help because I know my (parents) went through a lot when we were born, and I don't want anyone else to feel like that. I want to help them feel like their babies are going to be safe and comfortable."

Friends and neighbors gathered Sunday in the twins' Aurora home to help make the blankets, which vary in color and pattern. Some friends donated supplies, Karri Friedenberger said, and family members who live out of state offered to send pre-made blankets.

"We have an amazing support network," Friedenberger said.

Hanna and Rachel, sophomores at Waubonsie Valley High School, plan to deliver the blankets to the hospital next month on their birthday.

The idea for the service project stemmed from a similar annual blanket-making event the Friedenbergers have attended at Rush-Copley Medical Center the past three years. Since 2004, the family also has participated in and raised more than $125,000 for March for Babies, an event through the March of Dimes organization.

After the twins were born, Friedenberger said she and her husband, Kirk, could have only limited interactions with their daughters. They felt scared and powerless, she said, so when a stranger gifted them two knitted blankets for the girls, "it just meant so much to me."

"The NICU is such a sterile environment," she said. "(The blankets) warm it up and make it feel a little more homey, a little more cheerful."

Over the years, both girls have faced their share of challenges. Rachel was diagnosed with autism, anxiety and ADHD as a result of her brain bleed as a newborn. Hanna was chronically sick for years and now has autoimmune disorders. But they're fighters, and they each excel in their own ways, said neighbor and close family friend Pam Nass.

"We feel like we have a happy ending story because we got to bring our babies home," Friedenberger said. "There's a lot of babies in the NICU that don't make it. That's why we do this. That's why we give back."