Update

Before this week's post, I wanted to give an update on our friends who went to Miami to try and have surgery to save their unborn twin girls. It felt like that deserved its own corner. If you missed the backstory, read here.

First, they were indeed candidates for surgery. This evaluation involved an extensive ultrasound to ensure that, aside from the TTTS, both girls were still on a normal developmental trajectory--no brain damage or incomplete development that would have compromised their future survival. Both girls looked normal. This ultrasound also revealed that they had Stage II TTTS, rather than the Stage III with which they'd been initially diagnosed. This is a significant difference and was good news.

Second, she had surgery on Wednesday morning. The doctor thought he could identify a plan of action from the ultrasound, so I presume that was relatively uneventful. Nothing could really be known until another ultrasound the following morning that would see how the twins had fared. Prior to surgery, the doctor was willing to allow a 75% chance that both twins would survive.

Third, they had that follow up ultrasound this morning. Two heartbeats were detected (!). My understanding is that this was one of the major hurdles--surviving the surgery itself. She is feeling well and having no contractions. She will be on temporary bed rest and then somewhat restricted for the rest of the pregnancy (avoiding premature birth is paramount to give the babies the best chance at "evening out"). Only time will tell how successful the surgery actually was in terms of correcting the problem and allowing for that evening out, but for now they are grateful and relieved.

If you sent your well wishes, I thank you and I know they do too. Baby A remains confident that s/he will meet both twin friends in early 2013.