Our Twins Almost Died Twice Before They Were Born!

Lying on the exam table, 16 weeks pregnant, with cold, sticky gel on my abdomen, I heard the technician utter the words no mom wants to hear: “I’d better get the doctor,” she said.

 

- Kimberly Petillo-Decossard

WHEN I LOOKED AT THE MONITOR, I saw both little heartbeats. But I could also see that one twin’s amniotic sac was smaller than the other’s. That fluid-filled bubble a fetus is suspended in is there to nourish and protect it. My doctor recommended we keep an eye on things, but at my next appointment, my twins’ sacs were dramatically different in size. Without more fluid in her sac, my doctor told me, one could die. The other had too much fluid, which meant that fetus’s tiny body had to work too hard to process it. This could damage her heart, and she too could die.

None of the choices were good that day in March of 2016: We could terminate the pregnancy; I could undergo an intrauterine laser surgery to try to fix the imbalance of fluid (but that carried a risk of miscarriage); or we could do nothing and hope for the best, but that meant we could lose both babies. Even if one or both survived, they could have serious neurological problems. I didn’t know what to say. I just sat there, reeling.

IT WASN’T SUPPOSED TO BE SO COMPLICATED.

When we started thinking about a second child, my husband, Sakis, was more eager than I was; he felt strongly that our son, Dominic, needed a sibling. Eventually I agreed, and I got pregnant right away — with identical twins! Sakis was overjoyed, but Dominic was just over a year old — I mostly wondered how we’d manage three children under 2.