Twin Nightmare: Pregnancy and Disease

By Tomie Lunsford Parks
TTTS mom

Last fall, my husband Rusty and I learned that we were pregnant. We were a wealth of emotions - thrilled, scared, nervous, surprised, excited. Then we learned that for awhile, I was the mother of identical twins.

We learned that preterm labor is the most common risk of twin pregnancies, occurring more than 50% of the time. The other twin pregnancy risk is Twin-to-Twin Transfusion Syndrome (TTTS), but its occurrence is more rare, happening only in 10 percent of identical twin pregnancies.

Soon, tests revealed that my twins were two of the unlucky few who had to endure TTTS. We learned that the twins, whom we had named Hunter and Tanner, were both in danger. One received too much fluid, putting him at risk for congestive heart failure, and the other, Hunter, wasn't getting enough circulating fluids.

We chose to undergo in-utero surgery to sever the circulatory connection between the babies. It successfully stopped the TTTS, however, my body had been too stressed and I was soon in preterm labor. When my water broke at 21 weeks, the challenging pregnancy was over. Born too soon on Jan. 8, Tanner Russell Parks lived a mere 30 minutes, and Hunter Harold Parks died before birth

When I woke, I found a blue box left by a March of Dimes NICU support specialist. Inside were my babies’ receiving blankets, their hospital name bracelets and some photos. March of Dimes had also given me a silver heart-shaped necklace and provided me with some information on grief counseling.
That necklace is now my badge of honor, as to me the heart represents the battle I fought with TTTS.

Rusty and I have chosen not to live in fear, and still hope for children. We walk in March for Babies in honor of Tanner and Hunter.

Visit www.marchforbabies.org/team/t1563720 to help my team, Family Dinner, reach its goal of $2000 to support March of Dimes, the group that comforts moms without babies.