Diagnosed with TTTS

At my u/s on Dec. 22nd, to my dismay, the doctor informed me that the twins had level 3 TTTS. Fortunately my husband has been driving me to my appts, 'cause I lost it as soon as I got outside, and cried the whole way home.

Things moved pretty fast after that... I was referred to a specialist in Seattle, and had an appt to get things started up there early the next morning. We are in Vancouver so we had to basically stay up all night to be able to start the drive up soon enough. (About a three hour drive.) Plus they had told me no eating or drinking after 3am, in case they decide I can go into surgery that day.

So we got there early and just waited in the hospital parking lot til appt time. They ended up doing three hours of ultrasounds. That was rather miserable for me, because of being so tired the RLS was flaring up big time. The verdict was they definitely had TTTS, but only level two at that point. Baby B was the donor and her bladder was pretty much invisible, and she was a couple ounces smaller. Baby A had an enlarged heart, and the doctor wasn't sure if that would heal up on it's own or not. Bottom line, she advised surgery, and we decided to go for it.

Because of not eating or drinking, I started feeling pretty bad since I have hyperemesis. Plus I hadn't slept so when they got me to surgery prep I ended up basically passing out on the bed for awhile, and slept even through all their attempts to hook me up to IVs.

Finally it was surgery time, and fortunately my husband got to come in with me. They gave me an epidural (which was the first time I'd had one since my other births were all natural). But I kept throwing up so they ended up giving me a large dose of phenergan, which effectively stopped the throwing up and made me go to sleep. Slept through the whole two hour surgery.

I had to spend the night at the hospital, then the next morning (Christmas Eve) they did another ultrasound to see how the babies were doing. We were happy to see everything looked great already. Baby B's bladder was clearly visible, and Baby A's heart was even much improved! Fluids and everthing were great! So we were discharged, and we made it home in time to go to my in-laws for Christmas Eve (which is when they do their main celebration).

Then a couple days ago at my ultrasound everything looked perfect. Plus, ever since a couple days after the surgery they have both been kicking more than ever before. Plus, they are currently both head down.

So take heart, if you're diagnosed with TTTS, there's hope.

 

Im so sorry you were diagnosed with TTTS. But Im so glad you had the surgery and everything is working out better. If you ever need to talk im here. My twin sister and I were born 16 weeks Premature and at that point the doctors only knew we had TTTS after we were born. If we werent born then we wouldnt be here today. Back then they had no surgerys and didnt no much about it. They just told our parents that it sometimes happens to twins. We spent 6 + months in NICU and were given a 50% chance of pulling through. Our Mum only had one Ultrasound the whole time she was pregnant with us. I was the donor and Alisha was recieving too much blood which is why she had lung troubles and I ended up with a mild case of CP because i wasnt recieving enough if not none at all. Its been a struggle but totally worth it. There is hope!! And if it wasnt for TS and the great support and information on TTTS we wouldnt of found out that we were identical. Its been a long road. But you can do this.. Soon you'll be holding your precious twins and it will be the best gift of all :wub::youcandoit:

 

CONGRATS!!!
Glad to hear that everything is working out

 

I'm sooo glad to hear there is good news! I pray that this continues to be a GOOD NEWS case of TTTS!

HUGS!

 

Wow! How scary!!! I'm so glad you're twins are looking good now and you are feeling better. I'm kind of a newbie at this, does the TTTS mean they are DEFINITELY identical, or can this occur in frat twins? Mine have are di/di, so I think it's not really an issue for me, just curious for future knowlege. Hope you continue to heal!

 

TTTS is definitely only with identical twins. When the egg splits there is still a connection between them in the form of veins through the placenta. All identical twins have the connecting veins, and some (like mine did) tranfer too much between the veins. So the surgery was to sever as many of the veins as possible so they wouldn't be able to transfer any more. I had 18 veins severed during my surgery.

 

So scary. It's wonderful to hear that you and the babies are both doing well, though.

 

:banana: Hopefully the rest of your pregnancy will be smooth and uneventful!

 

You and your babies will be in my prayers. My boys are survivors too.