So, I guess the cat is out of the bag. It feels good to finally be able to publicly share our secret that we've been hiding for the last 9 weeks. I've had some people ask why we waited so long to announce that we were having triplets. I guess that main reason is that, on top of the already high risk that is involved with triplets, we have some additional risks that complicate things.
Here's the timeline of how things have gone down:
- Dec 11th - found out we were pregnant from a home pregnancy test
- Dec 12th (almost 4 weeks pregnant) - pregnancy confirmed at the doctor's office by way of beta test
- Jan 3rd (7 weeks pregnant) - first ultrasound...we were told we were having twins
- Jan 17th (9 weeks pregnant) - follow-up ultrasound...scratch the twin thing...one of the two embryos split...we're having triplets (this appointment was followed by a good solid week of me pretty much crying nonstop)
- Feb 7th (12 weeks pregnant) - had a scare with some pretty heavy bleeding...went to ER...found out babies were all okay (thank God!)...put on modified bed rest for the weekend
- Feb 8th - first appointment with perinatologist (high-risk doctor)...see below:
So, at my first perinatologist appointment, we got some unsettling news. The main purpose of the appointment was to see if the two identical babies were sharing an amniotic sac. At our previous ultrasound with our RE (reproductive endocrinologist), she told us she was unable to tell if they were. We knew that if they did share a sac, that brought on a whole new mess of complications and risk factors.
The doctor was very thorough during the ultrasound. He looked and looked...and looked and looked, trying to find a membrane separating our two identicals. I was starting to realize there probably wasn't one, but at that time, I didn't fully comprehend the severity of the situation. The doctor had the nurse look and then called another doctor in to look as well. None of them saw a membrane.
They concluded we had monochorionic-monoamniotic twins, meaning they are sharing both a placenta (monochorionic) and amniotic sac (monoamniotic). This happens when the embryo splits late (between days 8 and 12). Apparently this is very rare and only occurs in 1 out of 10,000 pregnancies and 1% of twin pregnancies. I couldn't believe this. We already beat so many odds by the split happening in the first place (again, less than 1% chance). How could this now also happen?
The biggest concern with these types of twins is that they have skin-to-skin contact and their cords can easily get tangled or compressed. This is often something that happens later on in the pregnancy when there isn't as much room for them to move around. Pretty scary stuff. When I got home from that appointment, I Googled monochorionic-monoamniotic twins and found out the following:
- These types of twins are often called "MoMo Twins" or "Mono-Mono Twins".
- Complications include Twin to Twin Transfusion Syndrome, cord entanglement, and cord compression...the cord issues being the more common and severe.
- There's a 50-60% survival rate for MoMo twins (this is according to the Internet...not my doctor).
- MoMo twins always deliver early because it is too risky to keep them in the womb. My doctor told me he would not let me go past 34 weeks.
- Many women who are pregnant with MoMo twins are admitted to the hospital between 24 and 28 weeks for 24/7 monitoring. If any sign of cord complication is found, they will immediately deliver the babies.
- MoMo twins are always born via C-section (vaginal birth is too dangerous).
- According to the Internet, 75% of MoMo twins are girls.
Obviously, when I first got this news, I was a mess. Being pregnant is already such a scary thing. Adding the triplets thing and then this was just too much. So, I won't lie. I cried a lot at first. Then I decided, these are the cards we've been dealt. We can only hope and pray for the best possible outcome for our babies. We've taken steps to prepare ourselves for the next few months. Aside from that, we've just chosen to remain positive and optimistic. Every appointment we've had since that scary 12 week appointment has gone really well. We've had 4 ultrasounds since then and the babies have looked very healthy each time. We'll have another one tomorrow (18 weeks). I can't wait to see them again!
