Our Little Miracle Babies

by Jill
(Michigan)

Tangled Umbilical Cords

At about 8 weeks, we found out that we were having twins! At that time, my doctor told me that she had good news and bad news. The good news was "congratulations, you are expecting twins". The bad news was that they were skeptical that it may be a mono mono twin pregnancy because a membrane did not seem to be present at that time. They told me that I needed to come back at 10 weeks to confirm. At that time, they confirmed that there was no membrane. They referred me to the only perinatologist in the area. Luckily, he was a great doctor because I didn't have any other choice unless of course I wanted to travel.

Throughout the pregnancy, we kept a positive attitude, although there were days that I still broke down and cried. It was so difficult to not know what was going on with the cords and how the babies were doing. We prayed a lot and hoped that God would be blessing us with two babies. I remember spending so much time on the internet trying to look for positive stories out there for mono mono twins. Of course on the internet, you tend to find stories that are negative. I decided to post my story here because it is a very positive outcome. I hope that my story will give someone else hope and encouragement to get through a mono mono pregnancy.

Our son was 3 when I was pregnant with our mono mono twin girls. At 18 weeks, we found out that we were having girls and we also found out that the cords were all jumbled together. It was very scary to see the cords on ultrasound. It looked like one of those puzzles where you have to get everything untangled. The doctor told us that he was hoping to see a better situation. It was very difficult for my husband and I to get to attached to the pregnancy because we were nervous of what could happen. We started preparing for our girls to be born at about 24 weeks (getting room ready and stuff like that) when we knew that they could actually do something if the girls were in danger with the cords.

At 24 weeks, I started having ultrasounds on Mon, Wed, and Fri. It was nice to see the girls so often. Each appointment I got to, I was thankful to have made it to another appt without delivering yet. I knew the girls could grow longer. They had told me that the earliest they would deliver would be 24 weeks if there was a problem.

We made it to 32 weeks plus 6 days when I had a scheduled C-section. We couldn't have been happier when we heard their little cries as each of them were born. The umbillical cords were the most incredible sight to see and the reason that we say that Jenna and Kaitlyn are our little miracle babies. It was a big jumbled mess of cords but they survived and are healthy 8 month olds now.

The beginning was rough as they spent 5 and 6 weeks in the NICU. Most of the issues were respiratory but they were also on feeding tubes for awhile too. Both of these are typical with preemies. Jenna and Kaitlyn's lungs weren't developing as fast as they had hoped. They had to be intubated for awhile and the surfactants weren't working for them. After spending 5 and 6 weeks in the NICU, they ended up sending them home on oxygen.

We were very nervous at first but so thankful to have them at home. Jenna needed oxygen for two months after she came home and Kaitlyn needed it for only one month. They are doing fantastic and we don't anticipate any respiratory issues in the future. They were 3 lb 12 oz and 4 lb 8 oz when born which are pretty good sizes for 32 week babies.

Hang in there if you're going through a mono-mono twin pregnancy. Make sure you're in excellent care and that the doctors and nurses are watching over your babies. If something seems unusual, go to the ER. I went once because I wasn't feeling movement. Everything turned out fine but you don't want to take any chances with this type of pregnancy. That part was hard for me to know that it was all my responsibility in between doctor appointments. Nobody else would know what was going on inside my body except for me. So, I was very conscious each day of what I was feeling. With any pregnancy you get nervous not feeling movement but this type of pregnancy is a lot more stressful. I read a lot that there is a 50% miscarriage with mono mono twin pregnancy. I also read that with doctors watching over these pregnancies more now in recent years that those percentages should be increasing. I think there is more hope than 50% nowadays. I'm not sure how many years the statistics are based on. The doctors and nurses that delivered our babies had not seen cords that tangled before. It's a miracle to us!

Although we went through a lot at the beginning, it's all just a memory and we have two healthy baby girls now who have the sweetest smiles ever!!!

Stay positive, have faith, and say lots of prayers!