For a mother who is expecting twins, the joy and excitement are usually doubled. However, carrying an extra baby comes with its own risk. Thus, they are asked to be extra careful so as to ensure safe childbirth. A woman from Ohio shared her incredible story of giving birth to twins even though doctors predicted the chances of survival for one to be nil.
However, her obstetrician (OB) looked concerned. She explained to Marie that they looked like monoamniotic (“MoMo”) twins, the ones who carry the highest risk. The twins shared the same placenta and amniotic sac. She was then asked to consult a Maternal-fetal medicine (MFM) specialist.
On the 11th week, Marie was guaranteed that she wouldn’t be having twins. She was told: “Baby B is not going to make it and you’re putting Baby A in serious jeopardy the longer you wait to terminate.”
To the utter surprise of the doctors, Marie didn’t cry. She had no reactions other than sticking to her decision of not giving up on “Baby B.”
The determined Marie wasn’t willing to cut the cord and emphasized, “I was pregnant with 2 LIVING babies.”
She also revealed that it was really painful to talk to others about her twins. “When someone would bring up what my future was going to look like, it was all I could do to not crumble bc what they didn’t know was that one and maybe even both of my babies were going to die. After all, the drs assured me this. More than once,” Marie wrote.
The doctors didn’t see Marie for another four weeks as they were sure that she would come back pregnant with only one living baby. To their surprise, there were still two and they then considered the possibility of fetal surgery.
After Marie was 16 weeks pregnant, she was called again, and this time it was to check the possibility of laser surgery. Meanwhile, they kept giving her all the more reasons that things were not going to be okay. As the cords were approximately 1 centimeter away from each other, laser surgery was impossible too.
As she went back to her local MFM center, the doctors realized that she wasn’t going to change her mind and gave her a goal of 28 weeks. Marie had her scans done biweekly, but the person at the MFM center didn’t call her back on the scans.
The next time around, Marie questioned the guy, as he wasn’t seeing her, and was told that he hadn’t requested to see her. She got a hint that everything was okay.
“He was quick to tell me how badly I needed an abortion, but has nothing to say when things are going good? Not even for peace of mind. Nothing. Ok,” she remarked.
The most nervous moment of her life arrived when she made it to 34 weeks. But to her utter joy, she delivered two of the most beautiful bundles of joy that she could lay her eyes on.
A little after 4 p.m., that day, Baby A was brought to Marie’s chest for a little time before he was taken away by the nurses. Marie couldn’t get a glimpse of Baby B right at that moment, but everyone promised that he cried.
“Actually my ‘first look’ of him was the picture they took on my phone. Which I was very thankful for because I wasn’t able to get into a wheelchair for a while,” Marie wrote.
Baby A tipped the scales at 4 pounds 15 ounces (approx. 2 kg), while Baby B, “the baby who will never ever make it,” weighed 2 pounds 9 ounces (approx. 1 kg).
Marie went on to reveal that Baby B never even needed a ventilator. He only needed oxygen and a feeding tube. Baby A spent 16 days at the NICU, while Baby B spent 29.
And now, two and a half years later, Marie is enjoying life with her two cute munchkins. She dreads the thought of how her life could have been if she had listened to any one of those doctors.
Marie also tells the two boys how “thankful” she is and admits honestly that “I cannot imagine a world in which my life is quiet and toddler free!”
She concluded by saying: “To think the day I delivered them I could have STILL made a different choice?! I can’t understand. And I don’t want to.”
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