Friday, April 1, 2011

Week of Surprises

My sister-in-law had a week filled with surprises.

Surprise #1

On Tuesday, she went to the doctor because she hasn't been feeling well for a few weeks. The doctor did a physical exam and told her that she was pretty sure she was pregnant based on her findings. They did blood work to date the pregnancy and see if it would be too early for an ultrasound. My SIL has a history of miscarriage as well as difficulty conceiving. She has never carried a pregnancy to term. Since her miscarriage in June, she has had very irregular periods and lots of cramping, heavy bleeding, and just general poor reproductive health that she has battled for the past ten years (she is 40). In December, her OB-GYN told her that she would be very unlikely to get pregnant again with all of her issues and advised against even trying it. She got on the Pill to regulate her cycles and was seriously thinking about scheduling a hysterectomy. So, this whole "You're pregnant!" thing was a bit of a shocker.

Surprise #2

The HCG came back really high (somewhere in the high 100's of thousands), so she came back on Wednesday for an ultrasound which showed that she is pregnant. . . VERY pregnant. Fourteen weeks pregnant as a matter of fact!

Surprise #3

It's twins!!

Surprise #4

As she has no idea when she conceived, it's multiples, and she is an older mom, they immediately referred her to a high-risk OB who got her in today for a high-level ultrasound to date the pregnancy and do the amnios. It turns out that these are identical twin girls. Monoamniotic twins as a matter of fact, which is high, high, high risk with a 50% survival rate. Obviously, this last part is a bit of a scary surprise.

My SIL is obviously overwhelmed by all of this. It's a bit crazy to be told all of these things in one week. By strange coincidence, her due date is the same as my sister's - September 10. However, the very latest they will let her pregnancy progress is 34 weeks, so she has already been scheduled for a c-section on August 20 - Will's third birthday! She will likely be admitted to the hospital for close monitoring at 28 weeks at the very latest and her doctor told her that if she made it to 30 weeks, it would be a miracle.

Of course, we are all thrilled for my sister-in-law and also very nervous. If you know of anyone who has had or is currently pregnant with monoamniotic twins, I would appreciate it if you could leave their information in the comments or e-mail me with it so I can pass it along. And if you are of the praying type, if you could say a few words for my sister-in-law and my nieces (how fun is that to say?), I would really appreciate it!

17 comments:

Ludicrous Mama said...

Wikipedia says that the current numbers are 81-95% chance of survival with aggressive fetal monitoring.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monoamniotic_twins
But other than all the scary stuff, what fantastic news! I love to hear miracle stories like that (unless it's the girl who stomped all over my brother's heart magically getting pregnant (with her husband) during my second year of infertility.)

Anonymous said...

Oh my goodness, what huge and (mostly) wonderful surprises! I'll be thinking good thoughts for the girls' health.

HereWeGoAJen said...

Awesome and also scary! But congratulations!

Michele said...

WOW!!! Sept 10th are Bobby & Maya's birthday! I'm going to take that as good luck!!! Much love, much love!!! And many prayers!

Amanda said...

Scary & exciting @ the same time. They're in my prayers!

Missy said...

Kaylee's birthday is September 10th too! How exciting! Hoping for the best outcome for both her and her twin girls. :)

Searching said...

Wow! What a bunch of surprises!!! Happy ones though. You can tell her in the NICU I had 2 sets of monoamniotic twins that were my primaries and I know of at least one other set. They were all preemies, one set had severe twin to twin transfusion & were sectioned for that, one set had moderate TTTS but went into PTL, & the third set I believe were preeclampsia. The severe TTTS it was too large of a change in the 7d from their last u/s so they didn't go do the fetal surgery (in Boston maybe?) but it was being talked about before they found the peanut was not doing well. She was around 2lb, her sis almost 4lb. Today they are little Tasmanian devils, just perfect little girls. :)

She's going to high risk docs, so that's a good thing. Keep an eye on those babies! Congrats!!!

Waves of Victory said...

Praying for your sister and her unborn children. I have a very good friend who's wife was pregnant with momoamniotic twins. Sadly one passed away but one lived. They were both born alive but the one who was very sick from TTTS passed at about a month old. You can look him up on facebook. Shannon Stapleton http://www.facebook.com/home.php#!/shannon.stapleton1 Mnay thought and prayers for your sister during this time! I know she must be excited but scared at the same time. Through God, ALL things are possible!

In Christ,
Rachel

Rebecca said...

Wow! That's a lot to deal with!

I had fraternal twins, but I really hope things go smoothly for her. There will be scares...there always are, but I hope things go well overall!

Annalien said...

Exciting news, but also very scary. I will pray for you SIL and her babies. It is true that through Christ all things are possible!

Tracy said...

Hey there, I've been reaching out to my other twin mommies to get somebody your SIL can contact. One of the questions they have is whether or not your SIL knows if they are monochorionic. Monoamniotic twins are not as scary, especially if they aren't mo-mo. If they are mo-di, then the twin-to-twin syndrome is less likely. Anyway, I'm sure she'll learn more as the pregnancy progresses, and it sounds like she's in the best hands possible.

Anonymous said...

Tracy, unfortunately they are mo mo twins. But please let me know of any contacts you find. She is very eager for positive stories and people who have been there!

Hope said...

Thinking of you and praying for your SIL and her daughters.

Joy@WDDCH said...

Sounds like she is in great hands and babies will be monitored to make sure one twin isn't taking all the nutrients from the other. WOW! What a shocker and beautiful blessing!!!!!!!!!

Mazzy said...

What a BUNCH of surprises for her. I can only imagine the shock she must be feeling. I pray she gets the proper medical attention and that everything works out wonderfully! God is truly amazing, these kinds of stories always warm my heart.

Anonymous said...

Where are you?

Kathy said...

One of my husband's cousin's wife's brothers (got that?) recently had "mo mo" twin baby girls that were born healthy and I think are getting close to celebrating their first birthday this spring/summer. Originally my cousin-in-law contacted me about it, knowing what we went through with Molly, in case I could be of help or support to her brother and SIL and/or so I could help her know how to help and support them.

I could try to put you in touch with my cousin-in-law's brother and his wife if your SIL would like to be in touch with them. They were given the 50-50 odds and it was a very stressful pregnancy for them, but their daughters turned out fine overall. I think one of them may have some medical issues now, but I don't think it is very bad. I hope this helps. Let me know if you want me to try to get their contact info for your SIL