Consultation

We flew into LA last night and had our consult with Dr. Chmait this morning. First we had to have an extensive ultrasound and then we went into Dr. Chmait's office to go over our options for treatment. He told us that we were now progressed to Stage III TTTS. Baby B has no fluid, measuring 2oz smaller and baby A has an abnormal blood flow through his cord. We were given 5 options: 

1- Abortion of both babies

2- Stopping cord supply to one baby in order to save the other

3- Doing nothing with a 95% chance they would die and/or have brain damage

4- Amnioreduction, which he said is pointless as it will not fix the problem

5- Laser Surgery

I had known these would be the options before we met with him, and we definitely would not even consider options 1 through 4. However, I was not expecting an abnormal complication to be involved with the laser surgery. In most cases, he quotes 90% of the time they are able to save at least one baby and 70% of the time they save both. Under normal circumstances, these would be what I would be told to expect.. Unfortunately a small subchorionic hematoma (basically a pool of blood) was found around my placenta, indicating that the placenta is not adhering as well as it should. This hematoma, although very small, can change the outcome of the surgery drastically. He wrote a research article and found that women who have a subchorionic hematoma are at 8x the risk of miscarriage or very preterm labor. So even if the surgery was successful, I could end up delivering my babies before they can survive out of the womb or have developmental problems. I would need to be on modified bed rest for the rest of my pregnancy in order to avoid preterm labor. 

My parents, Doug, and I all shed tears as he informed us of the seriousness of our situation, and that if the hematoma was bigger, he wouldn't even offer surgery as an option. We made the decision that we are going to have the surgery tomorrow at 8am, as all the other options were out of the question. We have to fight for our babies to have a chance, or we know that we would regret it forever. Dr. Chmait told us he will fight for our babies the best he can, but all we can do in this situation is have hope. He and his staff are absolutely wonderful. They were so kind. I can also tell they are very good at what they do so I am so grateful that we decided to come here to have him do the surgery. 

Following the appointment with him, we had to go to the hospital next door to have a fetal heart echo. Basically an extensive ultrasound to examine the conditions of their hearts. Fortunately there was no major concerns with that.. Finally good news! The echo took a long time and ended after 4pm. I had not eaten since 8am this morning so I was so hungry, dizzy, and emotional. I was also so uncomfortable from laying down so long. I felt sorry for the team doing the echo as they had to watch me have an emotional breakdown. I had hit my emotional breaking point. 

Now that I got food in me and have had some down time to rest, I feel a little more in control of my emotions. Of course I'm scared to death, but I'm to the point where I just am holding on to faith. One good thing is that my cervix is very long and holding up strong, so it helps in the situation of going into preterm labor. 

I'm sorry I haven't made calls to update anyone but I am emotionally drained and just felt posting on here would be the easiest way to inform everyone. We are so overwhelmed with gratitude for the thoughts and prayers. Hopefully together our prayers will bring a miracle!