Miracle Babies Move On

Formerly conjoined twins clear health hurdles to leave Dallas hospital

Dallas babies Owen and Emmett Ezell aren't even a year old, and they are already making international headlines. The once-conjoined twins are set to be released from Medical City Children's Hospital on Wednesday, April 16 — one day after their 9-month birthday.

The babies aren't headed home just yet, as they still require feeding and breathing tubes. Owen and Emmett will live at an inpatient rehabilitation center while their parents, Jenni and Dave, learn how to manage their health on their own.

Owen and Emmett Ezell spent six weeks in the NICU before gaining enough strength to undergo separation surgery.

When Owen and Emmett were born on July 15, 2013, they weighed a combined 11 pounds, 15 ounces.

They spent six weeks in Medical City's Level 4 NICU before gaining enough strength to undergo separation surgery on August 24. The boys had been joined from breast bone to belly button.

After the successful surgery in August, Dave and Jenni Ezell said making decisions about the complicated birth of their sons was the hardest thing they've ever had to do. When an MRI showed the twins were conjoined, the couple's first doctor recommended they abort the babies, because they had such a small chance of surviving.

"It was the hardest decision a mother has to make about her babies," Jenni said through tears as she recalled the experience. But the doctor preparing to do the abortion sent Jenni to Medical City Children's Hospital in Dallas for a second opinion. That was when a doctor told the Ezells there was a good chance the boys could survive birth and beyond.

"I could not contain my joy," Jenni said. "From that point on, we have stuck with Medical City."

The couple praised the doctors, nurses and surgeons at Medical City, calling them close friends and practically family. "I guess the lesson here is, have faith," Dave said.

Owen and Emmett Ezell are 9 months old today.

Photo courtesy of Medical City Dallas

Owen and Emmett Ezell are 9 months old today.

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Coworking News

New coworking space to open in Dallas' Oak Lawn neighborhood

Office Evolution

A coworking space is opening in Dallas in a central location: Office Evolution, a Louisville-based coworking chain, will open what a release says is a "state-of-the-art coworking space" at 3500 Oak Lawn Ave. #360 in Dallas at the southeast corner of Lemmon Avenue.

No details on what makes it state-of-the-art, but construction is ongoing and an opening is anticipated in mid-October.

Office Evolution was founded in 2003 as a shared workspace-coworking environment, cultivated on the principles of "Ohana," the Hawaiian tradition that references family working toward a common goal. (The founder was from Hawaii.)

The company started out in Boulder, Colorado, then relocated its headquarters to Louisville. It's an affiliated brand of United Franchise Group, and is part of The Vast Coworking Group, which specializes in franchising within the coworking industry. All of their locations are franchised.

The Dallas location is owned by franchisee Michael Pickering, a Dallas native who runs a family-owned indoor soccer facility in Dallas. (There are two other Office Evolution locations in the DFW area in McKinney and Southlake, owned by different franchisees.)

They're describing the Dallas location at 3500 Oak Lawn Ave. as "Turtle Creek," although its location at Oak Lawn and Lemmon really puts it at the epicenter of Oak Lawn. (To further complicate matters, the building previously and incorrectly described its address as "Uptown.")

It's a seven-story building in which the majority of tenants are doctor and medical offices.

Office Evolution rates include a coworking day pass for $25, plus "flex" office options starting at $200 a month for 20 hours, up to $550 a month for 80 hours.

Amenities of the building that are also accessible to Office Evolution customers include a front desk; a 1,000-square-foot fitness center; covered parking; and on-site security six days a week.

According to a spokesperson, Pickering and his team put $1.2 million into the renovation to transform the space, which occupies most of the fourth floor where it will span 9,240 square feet of space with 41 total offices — one of which is earmarked as an "on-demand office" for the professional on the go.

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