Mindy and Keith got married in 2010, and within six months, the happy couple decided to start growing their family. After 18 months of infertility, Mindy had no idea why she couldn’t get pregnant. But instead of going in for her planned hysteroscopy, she finally had a positive pregnancy test.
Six weeks later, Mindy had her first ultrasound and discovered she was pregnant with not one baby, but two. They were identical twin boys.
The ultrasound also showed that one baby was noticeable larger than the other — and that’s because there was a 90/10 placenta share between the twins. Christian struggled to grow.
In March 2012, Mindy and Keith were diagnosed with TTTS, or Twin-to-Twin-Transfusion Syndrome. TTTS is a blood supply complication that occurs within 15 percent of identical twin pregnancies with a shared placenta. Untreated, most babies will die.
Mindy was transferred to Cincinnati Children’s Hospital, one of the few hospitals in the United States trained to treat TTTS through laser surgery. And here’s a terrifying thought — in identical twin pregnancy, the babies will either live or die together. The purpose of this laser surgery is to stop the blood-sharing between the twins in hopes to save them both.
On July 17, 2012, after 18 weeks on bed rest, Christian and Connor were born via emergency c-section. Christian weighed only three pounds while Connor was over four pounds. “I received 2 rounds of steroid shots to help my boys lungs if born early and I’m thankful that the March of Dimes funded the research for this treatment,” Mindy writes on Crowdrise.
After nearly a month in NICU, both boys went home without any monitors or complications. Now, four years later, Mindy describes Christian and Connor as wild and outgoing little boys.
“Our family is committed to spreading awareness about TTTS and offering support to other families who are suffering from TTTS,” Mindy says.
Watch the video below to meet this amazing family, and please SHARE their story to help spread awareness about Twin-to-Twin-Transfusion Syndrome.
Source http://www.littlethings.com/
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