dbachman@observer-reporter.com

VENETIA - Richard "Trip" Bondi III and his twin brother, George, are rambunctious 2-year-olds who keep their parents and big sister on the move.

The twins also were quite a handful when they were born.

But there is one big difference: Today, they are healthy.

And for that, Dick and Ann Bondi are grateful.

That's why the Bondis, including 9-year-old Olivia, are serving as the ambassador family for the March of Dimes' March for Babies Sunday at Consol Energy Park. The walk begins at 10 a.m., and the family, along with friends and Dick's co-workers from Smith-Barney in Pittsburgh, will walk as members of the Bondi Boys team.

The Bondis also served as the ambassador family for the 2007 March of Dimes walk in Pittsburgh.

"These are our ways of giving back to an organization whose role in medical advancements has allowed us to enjoy our children today," Ann said. "The March of Dimes is there for all babies. They are so good about getting the word out about prematurity, and I feel thankful for Olivia being a healthy full-term baby."

The March of Dimes is a leading advocate for healthy babies, promoting medical advancements to prevent birth defects, prematurity and infant mortality.

Trip and George were born eight weeks early on June 21, 2005, and spent the first five weeks of their lives in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit at Magee-Womens Hospital in Pittsburgh, experiencing complications typically associated with prematurity, such as apnea, bradycardia, reflux, fluctuations in body temperature and intraventricular hemorrhages.

However, they did not require respiratory assistance because Ann had been given betamethasone, a drug commonly used to develop a baby's lungs, when she was hospitalized with preterm labor one week before the twins were born.

George, who weighed 4 pounds, 3 ounces at birth, was released from the hospital first, and Trip, who weighed 3 pounds, 15 ounces, followed one-and-a-half days later wearing a mini-heart monitor that Dick said "went off all the time, 24 hours a day."

For the next seven months, the boys received developmental help through Washington County's Early Intervention program, a free program for eligible infants.

"I was happy to take advantage of it," said Ann, who now volunteers on the Advisory Council and in the NICU at Magee. "I learned a lot of things that even would have been helpful with Olivia."

The boys have shown no developmental defects from their premature births.

"George has always been a couple more weeks more advanced than Trip. It was like a switch when they were starting to talk and walk," Dick said. "The pediatricians can't believe their progress. It's not that they're off the charts for growth, but they're not far below those of full-term babies."

Ironically, the Bondis became involved with the March of Dimes walk even before the twins were born. They walked to support a family friend who had lost two infants to birth defects and prematurity.

Olivia designed the T-shirt members of the Bondi Boys team will wear this year. It features Trip and George in super-hero capes accompanied by the phrase "Never Underestimate the Power of the SuperTwins!"

"They say speech is the best judge of overall development," Ann said. "Trip and George are ahead of where they should be."

For more information about the March for Babies, visit www.marchforbabies.org. For information about the March of Dimes, visit the organization's Web site, www.marchof dimes.com.

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