Our Baby Story 5-11-2008

Since we have so many people praying for us and our babies I wanted to share some of the details about our situation.

I am carrying identical twin girls that are sharing the same placenta. One of the babies is abnormally small and the other is growing at a normal rate. The smaller baby is experiencing a serious condition called Selective Intrauterine Growth Restriction (SIUGR).

SIUGR means that the smaller baby is only getting the nutrients she needs to grow and develop from a very small portion of the placenta while the other baby is getting her nutrients from the rest of the placenta. Because the babies share a placenta they also share blood vessels within the placenta. The lives of the twins are linked together through these shared blood vessels. Unfortunately there is a 40% chance that the smaller baby will pass away in the womb. If this occurs, then there is a one in three chance that the larger baby will also pass away or have severe brain damage.

When I saw my doctor last week she told me that I should expect to deliver the babies within the next couple of weeks. This was so scary to me because I was only 23 weeks then and one of my babies wasn't even measuring at 23 weeks.
And then God stepped in...

After some calls by my sister Nikki, me and my doctors we were lucky enough to be invited to participate in a randomized clinical trial (experimental) testing a new surgical procedure to treat this condition. This trial is only being performed in Los Angeles, CA and Tampa, FL, so off to LA we flew.

We saw Dr. Ramen Chmait on Monday and he confirmed that we were good candidates for the study. William and I still wanted to discuss our participation in the study with our doctor in Anchorage, so we took a couple of hours to talk things over. After lunch we met with Dr. Chmait again and agreed to participate. Our name was entered into a computer somewhere on the east coast and we were randomly chosen for the surgical procedure. I prayed that God would make this decision for us by chosing the best option for us. Thank you God! If we had not been chosen for the surgery we would still have participated in the study, but we would have continued with expectant management and delivered the girls very early.

The surgery was scheduled for Tuesday morning.

When I say the surgery is experimental I don't me that it is a brand new surgery. The surgical procedure is the same procedure used to treat Twin To Twin Transfusion Sydrome (which is what the doctors originally thought the girls were experiencing). The experimental part is that it hasn't been used to treat SIUGR.

The surgical procedure is called selective laser photocoagulation of communicating blood vessels (SLPCV). In this procedure a laser is used to block the blood vessels connecting the babies. If the smaller baby does pass away it is hoped that the risk of death or damage to the larger baby will be reduced. This procedure was all done through a small incision in my stomach. A metal tube was inserted through my uterus into the amniotic sac of the larger baby. An endoscope (medical telescope) was passed through the metal tube to locate the connecting blood vessels on the placenta and laser energy was used to block off these blood vessels. AMAZING!
I was awake for the entire surgery. And I have to say it was the scariest thing I have ever experienced in my life so far. I wasn't afraid for me, but for my babies. I was able to watch the surgery on a screen; I didn't watch it all because it was so scary, but I did get to see one of my baby's feet! That was very exciting. The doctor kept saying that she wanted to participate in the surgery because she kept putting her feet in front of the camera :-).

The surgery went well. William and I spent 2 nights in the hospital for monitoring. The best news is that we still have 2 heartbeats! Both babies did well through the surgery! Thank you again God!

I will continue to be on strict bedrest through the rest of my pregnancy. I am also improving my nutrition (lots of extra protein) in hopes that it will help the smaller baby to grow. We will continue to get weekly ultrasounds to check on the babies. For now it is a waiting game, but we are feeling much more hopeful. It will be a long 10 weeks, but we know in our hearts that we will be blessed with 2 beautiful baby girls in the end. It is also good to know that we are participating in a study that is larger than us and will hopefully help other couples/babies in the future.

Please continue to pray for both babies, but the smaller baby needs extra special prayers. She has a 60% chance of survival. I know she is tough, but please pray that she will hang on and get the nutrients she needs to grow. We are hoping to deliver the babies in July around 34 weeks now.

Also, please pray for my husband William. I know this is hard on him too, not to mention he also has to wait on me, comfort me, take care of the house and work! He is so wonderful to me. I thank God for him! He is already such a wonderful father and the girls haven't even arrived yet.
I will try to post weekly updates on how things are going. Thank you all again for your prayers and support. Please let me know if I can return the favor.