Miracle Baby Lauren Michelle Koenig, surviving twin daughter of Holly Munter Koenig, a 1976 graduate of Syosset High School, and Andrew Koenig turned one in May. A story on Lauren appeared in an earlier edition of the Syosset-Jericho Tribune when she was born at 25 weeks and weighed only 685 grams.

Lauren was born on May 8, 2000, and remained in the hospital for the first four months of her life. She was in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit at Beth Israel Medical Center and was then moved to New York University Hospital. "Lauren would not be with us today if it were not for the care at the NICU at Beth Israel," said Lauren's mom Holly. "They did an amazing job with her."

For her first birthday, the proud parents had a special request - no gifts from family and friends, but rather a much-deserved donation. In honor of Lauren's first birthday, family and friends of the Koenig's contributed close to $1,500 to the Beth Israel Medical Center NICU, which according to Aimee Telsey, Lauren's attending neonatal doctor, will be used for education materials.

The Koenigs decided to make a donation this year, and make it an annual event, to benefit the Beth Israel Medical Center NICU. "Most of the nurses got emotionally involved with Lauren," said Holly. "They went out of their way to help her through the difficult times during her long stay - from eye laser surgery to numerous blood transfusions and infections. They also had to be strong to deal with the parents and families who, like us, watched their baby day in and day out not knowing when or how the roller coaster ride would end."

Although Lauren's progress has been wonderful, she is very slow developmentally because she was born with a cyst in her brain. "That took her back developmentally-wise," said Holly. "She is not talking, sitting or crawling."

Holly explained that the progress of premature babies is not judged by their actual birthdate, but rather the due date. Holly and Andrew's due date with Lauren was August 16, 2000, three months later than when she was born.

Lauren's progress can be seen via her web site, which can be found at www.laurenmichellekoenig.com.