We had a doctors appointment at 9:00 on Tuesday morning. I have felt terrible this past weekend with lower back pain and an urge to push. I called the clinic on Monday and they told me to mention it at my appointment the next day. DH wasn't able to come along to the appointment, so my dad ended up riding with. Monday we had another one of these annoying April snow storms, so we left bright and early in order to get there in time in case the roads were bad.
We arrived at my appointment about 20 minutes early, and they saw us early as well. That never happens! I first talked to the nurse and told her my symptoms and she suspected possible preterm labor as well and suggested I get checked to see if I am dialated.
Shortly after this we went in for my ultrasound. They were doing a biophysical profile. This was different than the usual ultrasounds as they look for heart rates, fluid, and movement. It was a strange ultrasound especially considering how much they looked at the hearts and especially movement on Baby B. I said to my dad that Baby B wasn't moving much. The ultrasound tech never said anything that would be concerning so I just thought Baby B was sleeping. Shortly thereafter, my Maternal Fetal Medicine doctor came in and did the ultrasound himself. This was a red flag to me since he has never scanned me before.
As he was scanning me, I heard him say, "This is the recipient twin?" And my heart stopped. He then asked me if I felt decreased movement and I said, "yes, but I would do a kick count and it would be okay." Apparently I was only feeling Baby A move, and he responded by saying, "Baby B is very sick and she needs to come out now." I asked him if this was Twin to Twin Transfusion Syndrome (TTTS) and he said, "unfortunately, yes." I asked if I could call my husband and if he would make it for their birth. When I told him he was about 1 hour 20 minutes out, he said he might make it.
What happened next was a whirlwind of emotions and not knowing what was happening. They rushed me over to triage to prep me for my c-section. I arrived at 10:07. They were checking for heart rates and it was then a nurse said, "We need to go. Baby B is in heart failure." My heart sunk again. I didn't really know how serious it was because I JUST saw her heartbeat of 150 bpm about 10 minutes prior. They prepped me so fast and got me to the OR, numbed, and started the c-section.
At 10:34 (a mere 27 minutes later), Baby A, Kamryn, came out crying. I kept waiting to hear Baby B, Laityn. I never heard her, I never saw her. I didn't even know she was born. My dad was in the OR with me and I asked him and he said, "they are working on her." It wasn't until a few minutes later when we heard a doctor say, "I have a heartbeat."
I saw Kamryn for a very short while and never saw Laityn. They wheeled me into recovery where they told me just how grim it looked for Laityn. She was born with no heartbeat. The instant they took her out they began chest compressions, gave her some epi, and put her on a ventilator. She was gone for about 3 minutes. She even scored a zero on the Apgar rating scale. It wasn't until then I realized how serious this TTTS was. I essentially gave birth to a stillborn, and they revived her. Eventually they had to put Kamryn on a ventilator as well.
After sitting in recovery for 2-3 hours, Josh then arriving, they brought me down to the NICU to see my girls for the first time. It wasn't a pretty sight, but all I wanted was to see my girls. The girls each had two nurses and a doctor assigned to each. They were in extremely critical condition. Laityn had to have blood transfusions and platelets. Kamryn needed to have her blood removed and replaced with saline since she had too much.
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| Seeing the girls for the first time |
• Snow storms - had it not been for the storm we would have never have left early, and never been seen early
• Morning appointment - the doctor told me if it would have been later, she would have been gone.
• Miracle workers (doctors) - he had the right 30 people in the OR at the right time. 27 minutes to have a c-section delivery is unheard of....in fact, people were still talking about it a few days later
• Location - the fact I was in Sioux Falls. If I would have been at my local hospital I would have never made it in time to have the girls
• Stage IV TTTS: Stage IV is heart failure and has a 60%-100% mortality rate in the donor twin (Laityn). Stage V is death.
• My Doctor: He said he has never seen TTTS develop this severely this quickly. 32 weeks there was no sign. 33 weeks we almost lost one of our girls
Tons of prayers answered in the unknown times. I didnt know what to pray for while laying on the table. All I prayed was that my girls would be okay and not taken from me. I don't remember what words I prayed, but I just prayed for the girls. Somehow through the tears he hear our calls and blessed us with two beautiful daughters:
Kamryn Grace: 5lbs 14oz, 18.5" long, 10:34 AM
Laityn Hope: 4lbs 14oz, 18.25" long, 10:35 AM
(I plan on updating more - they are doing much better! I will try update soon)
