Jacobie & Dominik - Mono Mono Twin Boys

by Melanie Feist
(Alberta)

When I got pregnant I knew the exact date of conception, which pushed my ultrasound until the 20 week mark. I was seeing a doctor, and taking care of myself very well.

I remember the first time I heard thier heart beats (at this point thinking I was only having one child). The doctor looked concerned & asked me, assuming because I was so young (17), Melanie, are you SURE you want to keep this baby? I thought something was wrong, but now I know she had heard two heart beats but wasn't authorized to tell me.

I did my blood work, and I got called to go see the doctor before my next appointment. She told me that my blood work had come back positive for spina bifida, and I would have to wait for the ultraosound to see if there was some mistake, or how bad the situation was. I was writing diplomas and final exams, and couldn't focus. I remember leaving school crying, the principal sent me home and told me I could write tomorrow instead.

After a few long weeks of worrying and praying, it was time for my ultrasound. My boyfriend, who wasn't thrilled with the idea of a pregnancy so young came with me. The ultrasound tech had me see the 'baby' first. She paused the screen and left me with an image, while she went to get my boyfriend. Then she said "So, do you know what this is?" I wasnt sure, because I had never even seen an ultrasound picture before. I responded: "no.." but my boyfriend said: "i think so..." as his face lit up. I was confused.. & the technician replied "That's two stomachs." ... "There are two babies."

She asked us if we wanted to know the sex and we agreed that we did. We were having identical twin boys! This was very scary, but also exciting for us. My boyfriend was now thrilled about my pregnancy and we drove around to all our immediate family's works & told them the news, showed them the picture so they could find out for themselves. Thier reactions... priceless!

I had been told I would have many ultrasounds two hours away from my hometown, so I went to one and found out that they were in fact "mono-mono" identical twins. The doctor explained to me what that meant, and followed it by "Oh, I am always in charge of telling you the risks here.. there is a 50% death rate in mono-mono twins." Surprisingly, I was not afraid! I was very optimistic about my situation.

At my next ultrasound, I was told my cervix was shortening and I was to stay in the hospital on bed rest until delivery. I was only 24 weeks. I was poked like a lab rat, with gestational diabetes, and very very lonely until one day, the nurse stood up in the middle of my stress test and hit the emergency button. Nurses came running into my room & hooking me up to IV's and oxygen masks ran me up to the emergency c section room, as Twin A's heart rate had dropped down to 30. I almost lost a baby. On top of this I found out I had a kidney infection & stayed on the IV to take medication.

The next day after hours of monitoring the heart rates to make sure the babies were okay, I was sitting in my room having another stress test. I was in so much pain, like I was having cramps. I had her unhook me and I rolled myself into a ball. She called another nurse to come see if I was in labor. The nurse told me I was in fact 2cm dilated. They called my doctor to also come check on me, but they figured I would be having the twins via c section later that day.

My doctor came in ten minutes later & told me I was now 4cm dilated. He told me they couldnt wait anymore, I had to go have my surgery in five minutes. I was shocked, nervous and all alone. All my family was 2 hours away! I called everyone and they all left to try and be there by the end of the surgery. My boyfriend wouldnt even make it on time... but my dad had been in the city to visit me, so I called him and he was in surgery with me.

When I got out of surgery, the boys were in the NICU weighing 2lbs 14oz & 2lbs 13 oz.I delivered at 29 weeks. After a long journey in the NICU my strong little men were ready to come home three months later. They are now 17 months old. This is Jacobie and Dominik today. I hope you enjoyed my story. :)