There is a problem...

Hello to all our wonderful family and friends,

We had a trying day yesterday. I haven't talked to most of you and I hate to email you instead of calling but sometimes it's easier to do it this way.

I had an ultrasound yesterday. My blood pressure has been really good this week which is great news. Both babies were very active and very cute. There is a problem though that we have been watching progress. 2 ultrasounds ago, our twins were 3 and 4 oz. 1 ultrasound ago, they were 5 and 8 oz. Yesterday they were 8 and 14 oz. Twin B is almost double the size of Twin A. What they have is called Twin To Twin Transfusion Syndrome. This is where one baby is getting most if not all the nutrients and blood. I thought only the little one suffered through this, but actually they both do. The bigger one is getting too much blood going to it's heart and if not treated she could have heart failure. The good news is they both still have bladders which is saying they are still regulating the amniotic fluid. Now, the little one doesn't have much fluid. Which is another problem for both. The bigger baby has too much fluid. As this gets bigger, it could send me into pre-term labor. The little one is obviously not able to develop and grow right now.
So...they are sending me to a special hospital in Cincinnati next week. Next Friday, April 4th, I will have a full day of testing. This will include an MRI, Echocardiogram, an ultrasound and several consultations and then we will have a team meeting at the end with a board of doctors where we will decide at that time the next course of action. We are looking at laser surgery. They only do this in Wisconsin and Cincinnati. They will take an amniotic needle and go into the placenta and with a laser they will seperate the blood vessels that the twins share. Going into the uteras like this, there is always a risk for pre-term labor. So they will put me on Magnesium Sulfate to stop contractions. (I was on this with Alyssa to keep my blood pressure down - not pretty). But definitely worth it.
I talked with a wonderful lady last night (a friend of my sister, Angie, in St. Louis) and she had the surgery done a year ago with the same surgeon I will have. Her twin boys are now 7 months and have no complications. So she told me her success story which is always nice to hear. She walked me through what will happen while I'm there and explained in detail everything that I was wanting to know. So I definitely feel better. This thing can go really bad really fast, so I'm trying to take it easy this week until we go.

My girls are going to stay with their Grandparents while Mike and I are in Cinci. I've been told that I will probably remain in the hospital for a week to 2 weeks after the surgery and then remain on bedrest for the rest of my pregnancy. So it will definitely be a trying time but it's temporary and is definitely worth it to save these two lives.

Please keep us in your prayers as the next few weeks progress. I will keep you updated probably through email.

Thanks for listening and we love you all!!!

Mike, Bethany, Alyssa, Loren and A and B (we will try to decide on names soon, I promise )