Monday, November 17, 2014

Caught in a Downward Spiral

Here it is October 23rd and I sit, trying to find the right words. It has been several months since I last blogged and there have been SO many obstacles we have had to overcome. Where to start!?! Last I blogged, I was 20 weeks and we had our official gender reveal. Little did we know just a couple weeks later our world would be turned upside down, inside out, ripped into shreds, and changed for the rest of our lives.


Back in March, during Spring Break, I contacted my Dr. due to some extreme itching. I was toward the end of my 22nd week of pregnancy.  I had been itching for a few weeks at this point and my ankles were starting to swell. The itching started in my feet and hands, then it consumed my whole body. I had a friend tell me about something called ICP (intrahepatic cholestasis of pregnancy). After reading about it, I wasn't sure if that's what I had because it said it doesn't usually occur until the third trimester, but I decided to contact my Dr. about it anyways and requested blood work. She agreed and had me go ahead and go in. They called me after the results came back and I for sure had it, of course! This was terrifying because if not treated, it can be harmful to the babies, so she immediately called me in a prescription.


The next week I went in for a Dr.'s appointment at 23 weeks. Looking back, it was a frustrating visit with my Dr. because we waited in the waiting room for over an hour, I had another ultrasound with the ultrasound tech, who again wasn't concerned with the third baby, didn't check my cervix for dilation, and when I got to the room to see my Dr., she was in the room for maybe 2 minutes before being called out. She mentioned Kylar having a little extra amniotic fluid in her sac, which can mean a few different things, and she was sending me to a Maternal Fetal Medicine Specialist for the ICP, then she was out the door. Knowing what I do now, I have no words. #speechless


Now the chapter of my life that I wish I could change, and the story I call life, begins...


Monday, March 24

We went in to see the MFM Specialist. Nervous to say the least, but very unprepared for what we were about to hear. The nurse came in, asked her questions and completed another ultrasound. When my Dr. came in, she asked us questions, we told her our story, and she began the ultrasound herself. This is where everything becomes complicated. This is when we find out I am considered pregnant with triplets, not twins. This is when Kylar becomes baby B and Knox is baby C, because the "third baby" is now baby A. This is when we find out there are bigger issues than just the ICP.  This is when she explains that because Kylar and baby A are identical twins (because it was one embryo that split), their DNA is the same. What exactly does that mean and why does that matter?? Well, it means that because baby A had no heartbeat, was not formed correctly, but was continuing to grow, etc., we needed to figure out if there was something wrong with Kylar. My. Heart. Sank. She was also concerned with the amount of extra amniotic fluid that Kylar had. She explained that all of Kylar's measurements were normal and because she was an active baby, those were good signs. She at first thought there could be a chromosomal issue and wanted me to have blood work done to check the chromosomes. This is also when she checked my cervix on the ultrasound and put me on immediate bed rest because my cervix was starting to thin. This sure would have been good to know! This meant no walking around, no sitting up other than to eat or shower, no grocery shopping, no giving our 4 year old a bath or playing with him like before, etc. This broke my heart to say the least! His little world was about to be rocked and he had no clue! How do you explain this to a 4 year old?? I was scared to death and in inconsolable tears at this point, trying to hide my face as we walked out of the office. Thank goodness we were able to leave through a different door!


My Dr. sent me home on bed rest and called me the next day. She asked how I was doing and told me she had spoken to one of her partners about my case and they think it could be something called TRAP Sequence (twin reversed arterial perfusion sequence). She explained that it was extremely rare (1% chance of happening... I'd say that's pretty rare!) and they weren't for sure that's what it was, yet. IF this is what was going on, she explained there was a procedure that could be performed to fix it. Good, right? You would only hope!  She wanted to me to go to Dallas to see her partner the next day so that he could take a look as well. Little did we know, this is where our lives really took a turn.


Wednesday, March 26th

Brandon and I made our way to Dallas to see the other specialist. We waited in the waiting room for what seemed to be an eternity. I'm pretty sure we were the last ones to be called back. When we finally got back to the room, the ultrasound tech started off the ultrasound, taking pictures of Kylar and the "third baby", measuring everything. The Dr. finally made it into the room and began another ultrasound for himself, remeasuring and checking everything for himself. Soon after, his other partner found himself in the room as well. IF in fact this was TRAP Sequence, this was probably the first and possibly one of the only times they would see it. Like I said earlier, it only happens in 1% of identical twin cases. (People often mistake this for Twin to Twin Transfusion. No, it's not the same. TRAP Sequence is when one of the identical twins is not fully formed, and gets blood flow from the fully formed twin. Ultimately causing cardiac failure from being overworked. Twin to Twin is basically when both babies are formed, but one gets more nutrients than the other.)  After several minutes, the Dr. turned the ultrasound machine on where there were colors on the screen (checking for blood flow). I will never forget the words that came out of his mouth, "yep, there it is!" He was referring to the colors as the blood flow from Kylar to her identical twin. Now if you remember correctly, her twin did not have a heart, was not fully formed, but was growing because of the blood flow it was receiving from Kylar. The Dr. informed us that there was a specialist in Houston that could do a procedure to stop the blood flow from Kylar to the other baby. He stepped out of the room to contact the other Dr. When he came back in he told us that they would only do the procedure if my cervix was a 12 or more. Mine at this point was already thinned to an 8, therefore he couldn't do the procedure. We were at a loss. What I thought could be fixed, couldn't. My heart was broken. Being that I was just shy of 24 weeks pregnant, he put me on hospital bed rest to try and buy some time and for the babies to be constantly monitored. Especially Kylar because of her heart. After making some calls, he said neither hospital in Denton nor Flower Mound would be ready for something like this. He gave us the choice to either stay in Dallas or go to Lewisville where we would be closer to home. We obviously chose Lewisville and we couldn't be more happy with that decision.

When we arrived in Lewisville, my contractions were about a minute apart. The labor and delivery nurses were amazing! They worked very quickly and got the babies on monitors immediately. They gave me a shot to slow my contractions and started IV fluids. I was put at a decline back to take the pressure off my cervix and was confined to my bed. I could not get up for ANYTHING! Not even to eat. Try eating and drinking upside down. Needless to say after several days like that, my lungs began to hurt and I started getting a cough. One thing after another....

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