question about TTTS

I recently found out that I'm having twin identical girls. They are in seperate sacks but share a placenta which means they are at risk for TTTS. My doctor told me that there is only a 5% chance of TTTS occuring and if it has not occurred at this stage in my pregnancy (19 weeks) then thats a good sign. He also said you are never really safe and the milestone of tackling this is getting at least past 24 weeks. But I'm the biggest worry wort ever, I always seem to think of and worry about worst case scenarios. My question is do any of you know a good website about TTTS that is reliable? have any of you gone through this and actually overcome it? Am I overreacting right now? any advice would help me ease my mind...thanks

 

I recently found out that I'm having twin identical girls. They are in seperate sacks but share a placenta which means they are at risk for TTTS. My doctor told me that there is only a 5% chance of TTTS occuring and if it has not occurred at this stage in my pregnancy (19 weeks) then thats a good sign. He also said you are never really safe and the milestone of tackling this is getting at least past 24 weeks. But I'm the biggest worry wort ever, I always seem to think of and worry about worst case scenarios. My question is do any of you know a good website about TTTS that is reliable? have any of you gone through this and actually overcome it? Am I overreacting right now? any advice would help me ease my mind...thanks

 

Hi Erika,

i dont know much about ttts, but i just wanted to let you know that i am also a worry wort - i would feel reassured by frequent appts. with the dr. and being monitored closely. are you seeing a perinatologist?

 

Well, when it comes to worry warts, I've got to be the worst. As far as information, you can check out the Health Issues forum. There's a sticky with TTTS info. Also try tttsfoundation.org.

I have gone through TTTS before and, unfortunately, we didn't overcome it. However, I want to say that my doctor was very stupid (I mean unknowledgable, of course ) when it came to ttts. Our case was overlooked for several weeks and we had no time to even try much treatment. It's true that the worst cases develop before 20 weeks, but your doctor needs to keep an eye out for it at all times. I'm glad you're interested in educating yourself about it, but try not to let it overwhelm you, either.

I'm curious...are you seeing a peri?

 

Here is some great info on TTTS. I hope that you get the answers you need. Try to read things with a grain of salt. It can be awfully scary to know TOO much.

 

Thank you all for your advice. Yes I'm already seeing a peri every two weeks and my regular OBGYN every two weeks, so I'm seeing some kind of doctor weekly. I'm hoping that if TTTS does occur (praying that it wont) that by seeing at least one doctor a week it can be caught early on.

 

Erika, I'm on the same kind of schedule (peri every two weeks, OB in between). It's great that you're getting close monitoring and, hopefully, no problems will come up!

 

I wouldn't worry about it but you should know the signs and get u/s every 2 weeks or so. We were diagnosed at 19 weeks and the girls made it all the way to 35.3 weeks before being delivered. We were monitored very carefully throughout the pregnancy and received two amnioreductions to help control the problem. One thing you can do to help hold off TTTS is to sip 2-3 Boost/Ensure drinks a day. Sipping is key because it allows the nutrients and proteins to be more evenly distributed.

 

Please educate yourself about the signs and symptoms of TTTS and try not to worry. Your drs are doing a great tag team job of keeping their eyes on you and your babies too. Hang in there! It is so awesome to see that they mention it routinely now with ID twins that share sacs, placentas. They medical world has come a LONG way in 8 years since I lost my ID twin girls to TTTS>

 

www.tttsfoundation.org is good and so is Dr. Quintero's website - http://fetalmd.hsc.usf.edu/team.html

I was diagnosed with TTTS at 20-21 weeks and went to see Dr. Quintero. By the time I got to see him, it actually looked way better and didn't fall into his diagnosis of TTTS - thank God! I was all scheduled for the laser surgery and everything. My situation has only improved since! I still have an IUGR baby, but the "recipient" baby is normal sized - 50th percentile.

Definitely educate yourself about it as much as you can, but try not to get overwhelmed with what you read. Just remember, TTTS only occurs in about 5-15% of identical twin pregnancies... so it's not quite as prevalent as you might think.

I have an u/s every week now with a peri to check for the TTTS and to watch the growth on my IUGR baby. I'm also seen every other week by my regular OB. I would definitely make sure you're getting an u/s each week or every two weeks, cause as you have probably read, it can develop quickly.