No one ever told us that having twins was going to be easy, but we also didn't know how stressful it was going to be either. We found out almost a week ago that we were at a stage I for Twin to Twin Transfusion Syndrome. At that moment our world kind of went nuts! We left our weekly ultrasound and headed home to wait for a phone call from Cincinnati's Children's Hospital to find out when we would need to be seen for further testing. Luckily we didn't have to wait long as the call came around 11:30. We were told that we were scheduled for testing on Thursday with possible surgery on Friday if required. We made the decision to leave on Tuesday afternoon to beat the snow storm that was headed to Iowa. So without even getting to see McKenna and Ayla we packed a bag and we were on our way. Our 9 hour drive went smoothly except for rain. We got into Cincinnati around 11pm and checked into our hotel. It was slightly on the scary side and we checked out the next morning and moved to a hotel closer to the hospital. I figured if I was going to end up having surgery and need to be on bedrest that was NOT the hotel I wanted it to be in.
Thursday morning we arrived at Cincinnati's Children's Hospital for our testing. First we had our echocardiogram. This went well and we were told that we were considered a mild+ in terms of that test. Next it was on to visit with our nurse coordinator, Melissa. She walked us through the process of what would happen throughout the day. The MRI was next and having never had an MRI I was a bit freaked out. I opted to watch a movie so that I couldn't see the tiny tube that they were putting me in. The MRI took an hour and 40 minutes (needless to say that I was sore and stiff afterwards from laying still). They said that the babies moved around a lot making it difficult to get pictures. Leave it to our kids to be problem children already. After that we were sent immediately to an ultrasound. It was here that we met our surgeon, Dr. Lim, for the first time. He had stopped by to check on us and it was great to actually get to meet him. Our ultrasound tech, Connie was great. Again the twins were moving around a lot and it took her awhile to get the readings that she wanted. We determined that the DVP (Deepest Vertical Pocket) of fluids were 9.7 and 1.4, so actually worse than when we left Iowa on Tuesday.
Now it was time to meet with our "team". We were taken to a conference room where we met Dr. Polzin, Dr. Lim, a nurse coordinator, Lisa and fetal care coordinator Steve. Dr. Polzin and Steve are from Good Samaritan Hospital but work with the Fetal Care Clinic at Cincinnati's Children Hospital. All 4 of these people were great. Dr. Lim and Dr. Polzin went over all of our test results with us. We were given 3 options. Be randomized into a test group, have surgery or do nothing. The babies looked good from all the tests and while it was determined that there was TTTS going on, there was a chance that it could stable out on it's own. We were truly at a Quintero Stage 1. If we randomized we would be put in a system that would decide for us if we did surgery or waited. If we got picked to wait and things got worse then we would be back to Cincinnati in three days to have surgery done. We were presented with all kinds of information and then it was our turn to make a decision. Jake and I excused ourselves to a smaller room where we talked about what we wanted to do. We struggled with the decision. Knowing that the surgery comes with risks of losing one or both babies I cried while trying to make the decision. However, if we chose not to do it we could still lose one or both babies if the TTTS progressed quickly. After asking a few more questions we decided that we would elect to have the surgery done while we were here. What would happen if we would wait and just be monitored and in a couple days upon returning to Iowa discover that things had gotten worse and then Jake couldn't get the time off work to return to Cincy with me? After we told the team that we wanted to proceed with surgery we were taken in for a blood draw and a quick EKG to make sure my heart could handle it. Dr Lim again came in and sat with us and went over any questions we might have. We were informed that we needed to be at the hospital at 5:30 the next morning.
Back to the hotel we went. The night passed quickly and I woke up at 3:30am wondering if we had made the right decision. At 5:30 we were in our room at the Fetal Care Clinic just waiting for the rest of the events to unfold. I changed into my gown, ted hose and got my IV inserted then we waiting for Connie to do a morning ultrasound. She got there around 7am and after she checked the babies we were wheeled down to the OR waiting area. We were given some more meds to prepare for the epidural that I would be given once I was in the OR. Everything was finally ready to go. I kissed Jake goodbye and I was wheeled into where this miracle would happen.
Inside the OR was a large team of nurses, medical students, my anesthesiologists, Connie, Dr. Lim and Dr. Polzin. Once my epidural was inserted my blood pressure dropped to 56/35 so it took just a few minutes for me to come out of that. I remember someone putting a cool rag on my head and talking me through all of it. Then it was time to start. I really don't remember much about the surgery other than the compression things on my legs and my blood pressure cuff going off every so often. For some reason that was a very comforting feeling. Weird I know! I could hear Dr. Lim and Dr. Polzin talking throughout the surgery and talking about the vessels that they were seeing. I was in kind of a drunken relaxed state but could still hear what was going on which to me was kind of weird. Surgery seemed to go fairly quickly. I heard Dr. Lim say that they were on the last vessel and I knew I was almost done. I found out after surgery that they had severed 30 vessels between the babies and removed 850cc of amniotic fluid. They had also made two small pin holes in the membrane between the two babies to allow fluid to move back and forth. The nurses wheeled me back up to my room where I would recover for the next 4 hours. The doctors brought Jake to me and it was great to see him. They again told us that the surgery went well and now we just wait to see what the next 24 hours bring. One of Dr. Polzin's partners would be in on Saturday morning to do another follow up ultrasound to see how the babies had done. We hoped and prayed that they would survive and that the surgery would prove to be successful. One of our nurses did make sure to tell us that they got to see the face of Baby A during the surgery and that it was a very adorable baby.
Saturday morning was a lot of waiting around. You see when it snows in Ohio they apparently freak out! Our Dr finally arrived at close to 11. We were hoping she would be there by 9. She quickly got started on our ultrasound and the first words out of her mouth were, "they both survived!" BEST WORDS EVER!!!! She continued to look around at their beautiful heartbeats and they were moving all over the place. Baby A who had a DVP of 9.7 the day before was now at 3.6 and Baby B who had a DVP of 1.4 the day before was now at a 2.4. Both within normal ranges. She continued to say how great they looked and that she could have spent all day looking at them. You talk about a huge weight being lifted in just those few moments. We have fighters on our hands and that will make any mother and father feel great!
We were discharged to the hotel on bedrest until Wednesday. On Wednesday morning we will have another echocardiogram and ultrasound to see how our twinkies are doing with the change in their environment. We aren't out of the woods yet and we will continue to be monitored on a weekly basis in Iowa once we return.
I feel them kicking at all hours of the night so I have no doubt that these little angels will be just fine and will continue to thrive until God says that it's time for them to come into the world and meet us.
I'm sure that I left details out but for now those are the important things. Surgery went well, the babies are doing great and I'm getting antsy on bedrest .
We ask for continued prayers that the babies continue to adjust to their new environments, that their heartbeats continue to be strong without any complications and that I don't go completely nuts on bedrest over the next few months!
Oh, I almost forgot...I miss Ayla and McKenna like crazy. I cannot wait to get home and squeeze them both and see their smiles. I only hope Ayla realizes that leaving without saying goodbye was something that we had to do for her siblings health and safety.
