After Surgery-Katrina's Perspective

Today I (Katrina) am 20 weeks pregnant with two baby boys, uncomfortable & incredibly sore from surgery, relieved that my babies made it through another night, exhausted from the last few days, nervous about the future yet hopeful, emotionally drained, overwhelmed, humbled, and even a little shocked by the number of people far & wide who say they are praying for us on Facebook. 

Please, please, be careful not to pass on inaccurate information or your own interpretation of what is happening with my health or the health of the babies. Please read the following or at least skip to "Here is Where We Stand Now"…

Thursday morning at 7:30 AM (CST) we arrived for a check up with the high-risk Dr. at the Perinatal Center in St. Louis.   Knowing this could be a life-changing day Jonny and I spent the evening prior alone together talking, laughing, crying, and dreaming about the future for our two sons.  We arrived understandably nervous but generally calm and prepared for whatever may come with hours of research about Twin-to-Twin Transfusion under our belts. At the appointment an ultrasound was administered and then we waited for the Dr. to review the findings.  While waiting I went into the adjoining bathroom & as I reentered the room before I could even sit down I heard our Dr. enter the room and immediately begin telling Jonny, “this is worse than I could have imagined, we have to move fast, you need to prepare to go to Cincinnati today.”  The rest of the day happened so lightening fast it is a blur.  Dr. Moore (our high risk Dr.) did another exam and told us not only had the TTTS progressed but my cervix was also shortening & funneling, as if to signal my body was preparing to go into labor.  At 19 weeks gestation this would be considered a miscarriage, babies cannot survive outside of the womb until much, much later.  Baby A (the donor baby-aka smaller baby) looked surprising good yet Baby B (the recipient-aka larger baby) was showing signs of his heart failing and the fluid around him had drastically increased. 

We left there and rushed back to our apartment and began packing. Next thing we knew we were on the road to Cincinnati with our dog in tote to drop off in Louisville with my Mom.  We arrived at the Cincinnati Children’s Hospital a little after 6 pm (EST).  As one of our new favorite doctors said we flew by car!  From there I was literally run by wheel chair into an exam room, shortly after Dr’s confirmed all of what Dr. Moore had said and stated we were at Stage 4 of TTTS.  It was after hours and the unit was shut down but doctors, nurses, and other medical professionals came back from home just for our emergency situation! Talk about humbling! A flurry of tests and preparation then began to prepare me for surgery.  At one point I had an Echo-cardiologist scanning my belly (for the record I hate the word belly) to check the hearts of the babies, another doctor poking at me to check for swelling and reflexes, two residents hooking up monitors all over my body, two nurses drawing blood and putting in an IV by the light of a cell phone so as not to disturb the low light needed for the ultrasound, and during all of this an anesthesiologist asking me detailed questions about my medical history.  It was insanity to say the least! 

Going into surgery we knew that the larger donor baby (Baby B) was experiencing hydrops, or fluid in multiple parts of his body including the heart.  His heart has no anatomic defects (very, very good news) however the fluid is causing his heart to pump abnormally, and could cause his heart to fail, of course leading to death.  If he were to die at that point Baby A would also pass because both boys were linked by blood vessels in the placenta (I am sorry to be so blunt but Jonny & I are realists and it is the best way we know to cope). Obviously for me the rest was a sedated blur.  Dr.’s told me later they were able to successfully remove 2.5 lbs of amniotic fluid from around the! Hello! This being my first pregnancy I had no idea that the misery I had been experiencing with that much extra weight- I thought it was normal with Twins & even the doctors had told me there was no way I could have known. 

So here is where I’ll copy in what Jackie already said so well for us in a previous entry… “They started the surgery around 10:20 and were finished around 10:45.  They worked very quickly and very efficiently.  There were 25 connections that were severed between the two twins.  This will hopefully allow both babies to get close to equal amounts of nutrients - so one baby is not getting more than another.” 

HERE IS WHERE WE STAND NOW: 

Dr.’s are VERY optimistic, based on other cases of TTTS surgery, that Baby B’s heart will begin to heal on it’s own.  As long as there are no other factors of illness there is a very good chance of this.  Baby is currently still very sick because of the Hydrops (fluid on the heart).  Please specifically PRAY for his heart and sick body to heal.  The other great risk that still exists is preterm labor. I have been put on two very powerful medications to prevent contractions and will remain on a much more restrictive bed rest (no more midday errand runs, I'm allowed up to the bathroom and kitchen and that’s pretty much it!).  PLEASE continue to pray that I do NOT go into labor for at least another 10 (hopefully more!) weeks.  We have been released from the hospital and will be staying in a Cincinnati hotel until at least Tuesday, when Doctors will once again run tests.  At that point they may clear us to go home.  Back in St. Louis I will remain on bed rest, continue to see the High-risk doctors there, and we will simply wait and see in the weeks to come.

Exhaustion has set in for us and I have unfortunately been turning away visitors because I just need some time to heal from the surgery.  I can’t tell you what it means to us to see the level of support we are getting.  Logging onto Facebook has been utterly mind-boggling! I had no idea we would get this kind of response when we asked for prayers.

There is a long road ahead for us we ask that your enthusiasm to pray for us will continue in the many weeks to come as we wait on the Lord for healing!  The more rest we get the more peace is settling over us! We could not have asked for a better team of doctors, nurses, and hospital staff! 

*Many of you are reaching out & asking how you can help us at this time. While we are in Cincinnati, if you are in the area and would like to provide a meal for us, please contact my amazing friend (and Sorority Sister) Courtney Tabor at cpltabor@gmail.com

    I will need at least another day or more before I am ready to entertain visitors-please understand-I hate saying that but I think it is best! 

    We will let you know more about our time back in St. Louis when we know more.