The ultrasound technician lubed me up, put the wand on my belly,and just as Cary and I saw the baby a 2nd little head floated into the picture. At the exact same time the ultrasound tech said "Are you aware....... there are 2 in here!" I think Cary almost fell out of his chair! It's a crazy moment when you here news like this and you enter a sort of time freeze trying to wrap your head around it. It's a mixture of shock anxiety and excitement- quite the cocktail of emotions. I thought to myself.. someone up there has a sense of humor. Cary often said our goose was cooked after Rylan since we no longer could have our all day outdoor adventures. Its like God said.."here let me REALLY cook your Goose!" But seriously I was pretty excited too.
Then came the first bomb. The technician left to get the Maternal Fetal Medicine Specialist. She told us our twins are identical. They are a VERY rare twinning, something around 1 in 60,000 or 1% of all twins. Cary and I managed to hit the statistical JACKPOT!
She said our babies share the same kitchen and the same bedroom--making them very high risk due to many possible complications.The main one is cord accident as their cords can get tangled , knotted, and compressed which can cut off oxygen and nutrients and out the babies in distress. They are called Monochorionic, Monoamniotic twins... aka MoMos.
A good explanation is here http://www.facebook.com/pages/Momo-twins/110266742335294
They used to have about a 50% survival chance but with aggressive monitoring the success rate is closer to 80-90% Momma going Inpatient and living in the hospital around viability 24-26 weeks where they can be frequently monitored greatly increases their chance of survival. They are always delivered via C-Section sometime between 32-34 weeks because they are believed to be safer outside than in at that point. If distress is seen earlier they will take them out earlier.
This was going to be a long hard journey!
Cary's Commentary:
When Elly, the ultrasound tech asked "Are you aware there are 2 in there?!?!" I nearly fell out of my chair.....The joy, shock, awe, and excitment lasted all of 5 minutes. Thats when Dr. Harper came in and said "I'm about to rock your world.....This is NOT a normal pregnancy, this is a high risk pregnancy. You have Monoamniotic twins, which are rare....They have serious complications and you are going to be in for a rough ride, filled with lots of stress, uncertainity, and tough decisons."
Ouch. The excitment was quickly replacing by fear, sadness, and shock. Our son Rylan was a totally normal, beautiful pregnancy and birth. This was going to be very different.
No comments:
Post a Comment