I am happy to announce...

[Clear Hills Honey]

that I am pregnant with...identical. twin. girls. !

I wanted to share on here with my HC friends, who have been so supportive and caring, and helped me through the worst time of my life a couple of years ago.

Our two little ladies already have quite the story. My oldest dd insisted from the beginning that we were having twin girls, but I brushed her off. If it had not been for her insistence that it was twins at an appointment with our nurse midwife, our nurse midwife may not have referred me for a high risk ultrasound at 18 weeks (the beginning of September). This saved our baby girls.

During the ultrasound, the tech said "what we have here is baby A...AND baby B!" We were stunned, shocked. Then we became excited, and talked about how we need a bigger vehicle, a bigger house, etc. How special, identical twins. And how our dd Artemisia knew all along. I later learned through research that unlike fraternal twins, identical twins do not have anything to do with heredity, age of mother, or really anything. It is a completely random event, the splitting of one egg, and they do not know why it happens (3 in 1000 pregnancies). It seemed that the universe was trying to give us something back, even though our lost baby Persephone can never be replaced. However, the universe was going to make us work for these new little blessings.

Within half an hour of our exciting news, the doctor came in. After saying "surprise!" and congratulating us, he let us know that there was a serious problem. Our girls had TTTS (Twin to Twin Transference Syndrome). Because they share a placenta, identical twins have about a 5 - 10% chance of developing TTTS, an anomaly wherein they also share blood vessels between them. This meant Baby A had an oversized amniotic sac because she was getting too much blood from Baby B, considered the donor baby. This would stress Baby A too much, and her heart was at risk. This also meant that baby B had shut down her kidneys and bladder in order to reserve blood for her brain and heart. Very scary.

Our doc, who is stellar, gave us our options. He also stressed the urgency to make a decision. Do nothing and we would most likely lose both babies. Best option was laser oblation surgery (cauterizing the blood vessels between the babies), which gave us a 85% chance of keeping one baby, and 50% chance of keeping both. UCSF in San Francisco was the best place to have this done. About a ten hour drive from us. We left the next day. With no sleep all night, I had tests the following morning, and surgery the day after. We left for home the next evening. The surgery was a great success. I also received a certain amount of closure from a doctor there. I have a bicornuate uterus (another unusual anomaly, affecting only .1 to .5% of U.S. women), which is definitely what caused Persephone to turn during labor to breech. I had the suspicion, but it was good to have this confirmed somehow. I do feel anger at the doctor who delivered my first born via c-section (she did not descend due to positioning problems), for not bothering to inform me that my "heart shaped uterus" might cause positioning problems in subsequent births.

After getting back home, the twins were looking good. I have had ultrasounds every week. Unfortunately, my cervix kept shortening, threatening preterm labor. I had not had that issue in my two previous pregnancies, but read that previous birth trauma can damage the cervix in this way. So at 20 weeks I think it was, I had yet another surgery, a cerclage. This has helped hold the bag of waters. I am also on very low activity, almost bed rest.

I have come far from being a homebirth mama to doing anything I can to save these babies, utilizing what modern medicine has to offer in intervention. Without them, we would have lost our girls and may not have even known why, or even that there were two. It has opened my eyes that although C-section, ultrasounds, and other technologies are sometimes overused and abused by hospitals and doctors, when they are used in extreme cases like mine, they do save lives. I feel very grateful.

Last Friday was my most recent ultrasound. The doc said I am probably part of a study at UCSF because of the various risks, anomalies, and just weird factors, lol! But he also said that my case is the most successful outcome of the surgery for TTTS that he has ever heard of, and he is a specialist in TTTS. So that was so great to hear. I figure through all of this mess that I have to have a sense of humor that, as the surgeon in San Fran told us, I have a lightning rod on my head (regarding pregnancy and birth). Otherwise I would just keep questioning the many rare and strange anomalies that keep appearing in my reproductive world. This is my last pregnancy. We had only planned to have two children. We will be blessed with four, I hope.

The due date would be Jan. 28th, but I have been told that due to the bicornuate uterus, and fear that this may cause a uterine rupture should the twins get too big, they will be delivering our girls via C-section at 34 weeks, shortly before Christmas. I am almost 25 weeks now. Wish me luck that these little ladies stay in until then.

I am seriously taking it easy, but still running my shops and finishing a few trades until the end of October. I love my work and would go nuts without it right now.

So that is our girls' story so far. Anyone have advice on preemie or newborn twins?
_________________
Carmela ~ mama to Artemisia, identical twins Inara and Cordelia, and our angel baby Persephone.


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[knitterkim]

I have no advice but wanted to congratulate you!! And how wonderful is it that Artemisia is already looking out for her little sisters.
_________________
Kim
Wahm to 3
Taking life one stitch at a time
***Looking for instock? Check out myEtsy***
***Stocking every other Monday at Necessitae***

[Pink Lemonade]

So incredibly happy for you and your family, Carmela!
_________________
Sue, Mom to Abbie (8), Andy (6), Ava (5), and Audrey (2)
Pink Lemonade

[SGRAHA]

I'm so happy for you. I can't imagine how scary just being pregnant was not to mention adding in all the other things you've been through. It's funny that your daughter just knew you were having twin girlies, Faith swore all along she was getting a sister and she was right too, very perceptive our little ones.

_________________
Sarah
Wife to John
Mom to
Faith 7/16/06
Olivia 11/29/11


http://www.sewsationalsarah.com
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[bbailey]

How exciting!!! and nervewracking at the same time. Glad you and those girls are doing good
_________________
Brittany~nursing student and SAHM to Cole 3/1/03 (autism), Jaden 8/31/04, Cameron 4/8/09, and Skyelar 11/8/11

www.hyenacart.com/StitchingUpAStorm

[sparkynfiesty]

Congratulation!! What an amazing story your little ladies have already. I'll be sending lots of prayers and positive thoughts to you and your family. :hugs:
_________________
~ Bj ~ SAHM to 8 wild and crazy kids
Mela 16, Grayden 14, Lydia 12, Griffin 9, Jasabella 8, Lucio 6, Tulia 4 and Macario 2
Up a Tree Knits ~ Find me on:
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Luna's Gate

[crystalanne79]

Congratulations! I'm so happy things are going well now.
_________________
Crystal WAHM to Emma & Liam, loving wife to Scott.
Tree Hugger Mama Cloth
Specializing in Luxury- Minkee and Organic Bamboo Velour Mama Cloth.
Earn free Amazon gift cards easily - Swagbucks

[kbrown99]

Oh wow! Congratulations on twins and also on being able to get the interventions that will help them be here healthy and with you. I'm so excited for you.

Let us know if there's anything we can do to help.
_________________
Kristina, wife to Ben, homeschooling, SAHM to 5 beautiful kids.

I love to , , most kitchen crafts, and trade.

Ravelry Project Page

Brown Sugar Sweets is still available for trades and purchases. Just PM, email, or go to the BSS FB page

[SelkieSensuals]

Congrats and lots of good energies for staying power of babies sent your way! Speaking of perceptive children...yeah, my 14 yr old son kept telling me I was having a boy (again. 3rd one) even as I argued with him that it was the girls turn. But no, he was right...boy #3 (due in 2 weeks!)
_________________
Serenity & my family:
Captain Brandon , Pirate 1st Class David (03/30/93) ,
Pirate in Training Jaime (11/19/96) , and Stowaway Imbolc August Rhys Mikhil Marín (10/24/11)
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(natural bath/body for Mom & Baby)
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(Adventures in Piracy, and at times, Lunacy)

[alivals]

Carmela, I have such happy tears for you right now...what a miracle and you have a very intuitive daughter. Many many congrats and prayers for a healthy pregnancy!

Laura (knittress) is expecting identical twin girls too! I can't remember when she's due though. How cool is that!
_________________
Alicia

Married to Michael
Mama to Joe, Kiki, Mickey, and Christian

~Will knit for yarn/ trades

[BerryPatchMama]

Congrats! Wow that is some exciting news.
_________________
Karen
Mom to McKenna 03, Alysson 04, and Alexander 12/24/11
I'm back! This time armed with yarn & dye!
WAHM of The Berry Patch
http://www.TheBerry-Patch.com
http://www.etsy.com/shop/TheBerryPatch

[deedeelu]

Incredible story. I pray that you have a healthy pregnancy.

[Momto3Thatsme]

Oh Carmela, I am so excited for you!!! I actually teared up a little when I read your news after everything that you've been through. You deserve so much happiness in life, and hopefully this will just be the beginning of a new and wonderful chapter.
_________________
Maureen
Former Owner of SHLS, and Mom to Joshua (19), Emma (14), & Rebecca (8)

[happy2Bjustmommy]

Congrats. My heart sunk when i read your girls have TTTS. I know how terrifying that is. I am glad your doctor got you to the right place, and everything is looking good.
I also understand the change of going froma home birth mom to whatever needs to be done. I have had to change my view, and have given up ever having another home birth. but my baby's saefty and my peace of mind, is what is important.
I am so happy to hear all is going well with your girls. I will continue to send prayers and positive thoughts for you and your family. I hope your little girls stay put for a while longer.
_________________
Melissa Mom with 11 kiddos. 4 who run on Earth, 7 who soar with the angels.
Foster mom to 2

My 9 year old is shaving her head for charity!
http://www.stbaldricks.org/participants/GabbyA

[foursmore]

Such wonderful news, Carmela!! Thank you for sharing!
_________________
Bekah, SAH crafting mama to my crew.
Sheep in a Heap