Mono/Mono Miracles

by Eva Knight
(Brooklyn, New York)

I discovered I was pregnant the end of June when I was taken to the ER at St Johns Hospital in Queens, NY for extreme pain and excessive bleeding. It was there that I was told I was having an etopic pregnancy and rushed to the OR.

After surgery I was told to me by doctors that it was a heteroetopic pregnancy (one fetus in the womb, the other lodged in the tube). This situation is rare, especially since I was on Nuvaring for 8 more months when I became pregnant. I was told that because of the excessive blood loss and invasion of the surgery, they didn't expect the remaining fetus to survive. I was on edge emotionally looking to see if I would miscarry within the two week window after surgery.

I returned to the hospital for a checkup and begged the resident to please do an ultrasound to see if the fetus was ok. It was upon this ultrasound that the tech discovered there was no separation and announced my to husband and I that we were having twins.

There was no mention of MONO/Mono twins until I went to Brooklyn Hospital in NYC. At my second appt after an additional ultrasound, doctors explained that I was having a very rare pregnancy identified as Monoamniotic-Monochorionic twins. I was hospitalized in September and told that I would be there until the delivery at 32 weeks(end of Nov). It was a painful and scary experience. I cried many days and nights. Laying on your back, hooked up to wires, lots of back pain, IVs, over 137 needles by the time I was discharged, etc.

Doctors would visit my room and explain as delicately as they could the odds of my babies which was about 80/20 that they could demise in utero. It was hard listening to the babies heartbeats and watching the nurses and doctors scramble nervously to ensure they were monitered every minute day and night. As a mom, it is scary. The condition is so rare that meaningful people will trivialize the experience that is soo emotionally jarring. It can also be a lonely journey and you pray that things will be alright in the end.

My twins survived. We could not get to 32 weeks but we made it to 30 weeks. My daughters, Ava & Lydia were born on November 20th 2009 via C-section at 2 lbs 14 oz and 2 lbs 8 oz respectfully. To say the least, the cords were amazingly entangled a bit larger than a base ball. The longer they stayed the tighter the cords would become and would create a dangerous situation in utero. The girls stayed in the NICU for a month and thrived well.

My daughters came home on Christmas Eve. Ava is now 6 lbs and Lydia is 5 lbs. God is an awesome God! We made it!