How it all started....

Mono Mono Twin

I have decided to start a blog to help our friends and families understand our situation, learn a little about my pregnancy and to follow us along on our amazing journey. 

On July 20^th Travis and I found out we were expecting, via a home pregnancy test.  I quickly scheduled an appointment with a local OBGYN.  I had no idea how far along I could have been and was super anxious to find out.  The doctor informed me that I was about 5 weeks pregnant- with twins.  I was in disbelief.  Travis and I always talked about having twins, but it’s one of those things that you never really think will actually happen. 

It was about 10 weeks into my pregnancy when Travis and I found out that I was carrying a rare, yet risky type of twin pregnancy.  We were sent to see a specialist in Columbia, Missouri and were immediately overwhelmed with what the doctor had to tell us.  He informed us that we were carrying twins known as Monoamniotic Twins.  This means that the twins developed within the same amniotic sac.  This occurs when the egg splits after the amniotic sac has already formed around it (normally the egg will split earlier, allowing an amniotic sac to form around each fetus). Monoamniotic Twins account for only about 1% of identical twin pregnancies.

Monoamniotic Twins are considered a risky pregnancy because the high-risk of fetal death due to umbilical cord entanglement and twin to twin transfusion.  Since there is no membrane separating the babies, there is nothing to keep the twins from twisting around each other and tangling/knotting their umbilical cords. Twists and knots in the twin’s cords can easily cut off the blood supply to one or both of the babies. Cord entanglement can cause a slow reduction in blood flow creating problems over time or cause a sudden complete loss of blood flow in a matter of minutes or seconds.  Once we were told all of our ricks we were told that I would need to be hospitalized at 24 weeks of my pregnancy for 24 hour monitoring of the twins.   

I will never forget that first appointment with the specialist- honestly, we were in shock.  I remember asking the doctor what should I or shouldn’t I do until we got to 24 weeks?  He looked me straight in the eye and said, “Pray, go home and pray”. 

So we’ve prayed- and we’re so thankful and blessed to have made it this far!  We know we have a long road ahead of us, but our babies are fighters and we’re going to make through this.  We can’t even begin to thank all of the support and ongoing prayers that we have received from so many people.