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I wasn't surprised to learn that I was
pregnant with identical twins during
my first perinatologist appointment at
11 weeks. I had been telling
everybody I thought it was twins, and
the only reason we even did an
ultrasound was that I told my doctor
that I thought there was more than
one. From the beginning it was a
complicated situation -- I had given
birth only 8 weeks before conceiving
the twins, and that pregnancy had been
complicated by an abruption at 14
weeks and placenta previa. We did
have a small abruption at 14 weeks
again but it resolved and I was very
optimistic that everything would be
fine. When I was 19 weeks along I had
an ultrasound done that showed my
twins had developed twin-to-twin
transfusion syndrome. I was
devastated! The odds were very low
that my twins would survive. My donor
twin had so little amniotic fluid that
he was "stuck", literally pressed up
against the side of the placenta with
his amniotic sac saran-wrapped around
his little body. He could barely
move. My recipient twin had 4 times
the normal amount of fluid. Nine days
after I was diagnosed, I woke up one
morning just feeling that something
wasn't right with my body. I called
my doctor who told me to come see him
in the L&D triage. When I got there,
we found that I was in preterm labor
and was 1/2 cm dilated. I was 20
weeks, 5 days along. It was
recommended I have an amniocentesis to
reduce the amount of fluid in my
recipients sac, hoping to stop the
labor which started as a result of me
being so big. I was admitted into the
hospital and the amniocentesis was
done. Only about 700cc of fluid was
withdrawn, and after the procedure, I
was hooked up to a monitor for what
was expected to be a few hours before
they released me home. 15 minutes
after the amniocentesis was complete,
I had a HUGE gush of water. I knew
immediately that my twins were in even
more grave danger than they had been
before. My doctor and all of his
colleagues were very honest that it
was unlikely that the pregnancy would
continue, but none of us gave up hope.
My nurses and doctors prayed with me.
I stayed in the hospital on complete
bedrest for 8 weeks 3 days before the
boys were born. During that time, I
had several marginal abruptions and
was transferred from the perinatal
special care unit to L&D, then back.
Strangely, I had a second rupture on
twin B at 24 weeks. I literally laid
there with a bath towel as my pad, I
was leaking so much fluid constantly.
We estimated that I was losing at last
800cc of amniotic fluid a day between
the two babies. They both
were "stuck" now -- their AFI's were
always below 2 and it was very scary.
When the boys were born via emergency
c-section at 29 weeks, nobody really
knew what to expect. Twin A
(recipient) was born weighing 2 lb. 12
oz. He had severe RDS and was on a
ventilator for several days, then a
nasal CPAP for a couple of weeks, then
oxygen via a nasal cannula for 8
weeks. He was also born with severely
clubbed feet due to his cramped living
quarters. He had moderate renal
failure for the first 4 days of his
life. Twin B (donor) was born
weighing 2 lb. 7 oz. He was only on
the ventilator 24 hours, then nasal
CPAP for 4 days and oxygen for 3
weeks. He was born with severe renal
failure which didn't resolve for 3
weeks after his birth. We came very,
very close to losing him! The boys
spent 71 days and 66 days in the NICU
and are now almost 5 months old. They
are doing wonderful! To look at them,
someone not familiar with our story
would never guess they had come so
close to death -- they are healthy,
happy little boys who appear to be
developmentally appropriate. I know
our story is a bit unusual in that
both babies ruptured, but I hope that
it gives someone hope to continue on.
Miracles do happen!
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