Having met at age 13, my husband and I were certain early on that we’d get married someday. After five years into our marriage, were we elated to learn that we were having twins.
My husband Adam and I were so excited -- we imagined how much fun it would be for our children to have built-in best friends.
Our twins would be identical, meaning they would be sharing the same placenta, so I was referred to a maternal-fetal medicine specialist affiliated with Memorial Hermann-Texas Medical Center to discuss any potential concerns.
Life Imbalanced
During one of my scheduled ultrasounds to monitor their growth, I could tell something was wrong. That’s when we learned our twins were at very high risk for twin-to-twin transfusion syndrome, or TTTS, which occurs when twins don’t share nutrients equally while in the womb.
One baby was severely malnourished as the bulk of the nutrients were being consumed by his brother. This oversaturation of nutrients dramatically increased the chance for heart failure for his brother.
The nurse told me to go immediately to The Fetal Center at Children’s Memorial Hermann Hospital in the Texas Medical Center. I needed surgery to split the placenta and blood vessels so the twins would get equal shares—their only chance of survival. Due to the urgency of the situation, I couldn’t even go home to pack a bag.
I was in shock. It was a very scary day.
At Children’s Memorial Hermann Hospital, everything moved quickly and efficiently. In the five minutes it took me to get to the center, they’d already completed my admissions paperwork.
The next morning, I was prepped for surgery on the same floor where everyone else had arrived equipped with suitcases and hopes of bringing home a healthy child While the procedure was quick and painless for me, there was no guarantee both twins would make it. Fortunately, I was lucky to have some of the very best fetal surgeons and specialists in the world at my side.
The Rollercoaster Continues
The moment we heard the surgery was successful—and our twins were likely going to make it—a huge weight was lifted off my shoulders.
My husband and I were super grateful for the doctors and nurses who acted so quickly and calmly to save both babies. And it was wonderful seeing the two cribs in our nursery that were ready for our boys’ arrival.
We were hoping that enough time would pass to allow for the twins to gain enough nutrients to be born in good health, but fate had other plans. Six days after the procedure, my twins decided they were coming, and I had not even made it into the third trimester.
That evening the twins were born—at only 25 weeks’ gestation weighing just two pounds each.
But thanks to the treatment to resolve the TTTS and the hard work by the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU), our babies had a fighting chance.