Hello Family and Friends...

Hello Family and Friends,

First of all, thank you for being patient with us. It has been a very long day of testing and probing and we are done. After being so drained, we are not jumping to get on the phone and call people so bear with us.

The findings of today are this....
Our twins have the combination of 1) twin to twin transfusion syndrome and 2) growth restriction.
The good news is that Emma and Olivia have no birth defects. There is nothing big wrong with them as far as how they have grown and developed, even though they have a 40% growth difference. Emma is 9 oz. and Olivia is 1 pound.

The concern and problem right now is there is distress on both babies hearts. They do not have heart failure right now. But they can tell they are both working too hard. If nothing is done, we will lose both babies.

So my first order from the doctors is that I am now on bedrest.

Our two options are this
1) amnio reduction - they will go into the larger baby's amniotic sac and reduce some of the fluid. There is a 20-30% chance that this will work. It is less risky and we're willing to give it a shot. This procedure will probably be this coming Monday. One week from there, we will have another echo to see how the babies hearts are doing. If this has not helped relieve the stress then we go to option 2. I will remain in Cincinnati for the duration. Mike will most likely come back to work.

2) laser surgery - we will schedule surgery as soon as possible (once we know that option #1 didn't work) for that week. They will go in and cauterize the blood vessels. This is more risky but it has a 91% chance that one or both will survive.

So I think that is the basic information of it all. It was a big decision but we are trying to be wise with our choices on how to proceed.

The other thing, while they did my MRI, they found a massive cyst on my left kidney. Once we take care of this situation I will go see a urologist. But right now the twins come first.

So I think I'm done. I might write tomorrow when some of my brain cells have returned.

Love you lots and thanks for the prayers!!