Life Our Babies Could Use Your Support - Page 14

'Hamas' Jenkins · 04:51 AM

The great news is that I am a dad of two beautiful little girls.

The terrible news is that those girls are in extreme medical duress.
Yesterday, my wife gave birth, via emergency c-section, at 29 weeks, two days. At sixteen weeks, what looked like a normal, but rare, identical twin pregnancy became far more complicated. Our babies were diagnosed with a disorder that happens about 15% of the time with identical twin pregnancies called Twin-to-Twin Transfusion Syndrome. A detailed medical description isn’t necessary, but a brief one may help to understand.

The placenta provides blood flow and nutrition to a developing fetus. Most of the time, identical twins draw from the placenta with little issue, but in Twin-to-Twin, there is an imbalance. One twin, called the recipient, pulls too much blood from the placenta, and also the other baby. This makes the recipient polycythemic, basically the exact opposite of anemic. With too much blood, especially red blood cells, the blood becomes sludgy, and all the extra fluid which the baby receives from the extra blood puts a great deal of strain on their system, and can lead to congestive heart failure and other problems.

The other twin, the donor, experiences problems due to a lack of blood volume.

As a result of this circulatory imbalance, there is a massive discrepancy in amniotic fluid. The recipient swims in a pool of it, while the donor is, in essence, shrink-wrapped by the lack of fluid as the amniotic sac pulls in around it.

The condition is gravely serious, and without treatment, will usually carry a mortality risk of 100%.

After finding out that what we thought was going to be a normal pregnancy was anything but at 16 weeks, we had a procedure done in St. Louis called fetoscopic laser ablation. Developed a little over a decade ago, surgeons make a small incision in the mother’s abdomen, and with a small endoscope and laser, cauterize shared vessels between the two twins. This helps to establish a normal blood flow between the two babies.
We had this procedure done on May 6.

Initially, everything looked great, as the fluid levels between the two babies balanced out, and blood flow patterns appeared within normal range. About three weeks after the procedure, our specialists noticed that the condition had actually reversed itself. About 10% of the time, the condition will spontaneously reverse itself.

It was apparent to doctors at this appointment that this had happened near the end of May. Fluid levels were imbalanced, but still at the very end of normal. As such, the doctors felt it was the best interests in prolonging the pregnancy, which was not yet at viability, to avoid another event that would require making a hole in the amniotic sac. Thus, we embarked on a pattern of extreme vigilance. At multiple appointments per week, doctors performed an ultrasound wherein they would measure amniotic fluid levels, blood flow across the umbilical cords, and within the cerebral arteries in the brain.

After this second scare, it appeared that things began to normalize. Most of our subsequent appointments looked improved, and everything appeared to be on a healthy, normal trajectory.

Until Wednesday night.

Late Wednesday, my wife began to feel a series of small contractions. While normal in the third trimester, she had enough in a short period of time that it was necessary to call the doctor. He had us come into the hospital for closer monitoring, and after doing so, noticed that one of our babies was in distress. We had three ultrasounds last night and early into Wednesday morning, and after doing so, the doctors felt that it was in the best interests of the babies to deliver them at an extremely early, 29 weeks, but still viable age.

At 5:09 and 5:10 pm yesterday, we welcomed our little girls into the world.

Continued in post #2

MOhillbilly · 08-02-2011, 10:12 AM

Good thoughts to you and yours, Ese.

**Mr. Flopnuts** · 08-02-2011, 10:16 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by 'Hamas' Jenkins

Just wanted to give you all another update.

Milestone wise, Mom got to hold Logan for the first time today. Logan has moved to an Isolette, which is a really big improvement. She is going to transition from nasal prongs to a nasal canula today, and she's getting small amounts of milk through her feeding tube.

Hailey is also improving. She is peeing a lot, which she desperately needed to get the excess amount of fluids out of her body. Last night we changed a diaper that had eight times the pee of her first one, and she's putting out volumes far above what they were optimistically hoping without the need of potentially dangerous diuretics. She just started her first milk feeding.

They did another head ultrasound today and noticed no bleeding or evidence of bleeds in either of their brains, which is good news, but not necessarily predictive of long-term clear sailing.

Hailey should slowly transition off the oscillator today, and the doctors are slowly weaning her off of morphine, so she's waking up. I got to read a story to her this morning.

My wife should be discharged this afternoon, which they say can be quite difficult. Hopefully the transition isn't too tough on her, but she's been tremendous throughout this entire ordeal, so I'm optimistic that she'll be able to handle it.

Awesome! Thank you for updating this as you can. I know I'm not the only one around here thinking about you guys multiple times throughout the day. Be well.

**TrebMaxx** · 08-02-2011, 11:18 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mr. Flopnuts

Awesome! Thank you for updating this as you can. I know I'm not the only one around here thinking about you guys multiple times throughout the day. Be well.

This!

Glad things are on the upside.

|Zach| · 08-02-2011, 12:06 PM

Hammas' kids are fighters.

Deal with it.

08-02-2011, 11:49 PM

A little over 8 years ago I posted a picture on this very site of a tiny little girl whose legs about the size of my fingers. I could easily slid my wedding band over her foot and up onto her thigh. She didn't have near the medical issues your girls have but she was about their size. She's now 8 and a picture of perfect health. I trust you'll share pictures of your girls in 8 years just as I have.

Radar Chief · 08-03-2011, 02:57 PM

Any improvement is good news.

'Hamas' Jenkins · 08-03-2011, 03:16 PM

Some more good news today. They took Logan off of her ventilator yesterday, now she just has a nasal canula in, and the oxygen she is getting is room air concentration, down from 40% yesterday. We both get to hold her daily, and she tolerates it very well. It's amazing how small, but resilient she is, and even though she gets really upset when they move her, she falls asleep almost the instant we put her on our chests. It's truly a wonderful feeling.

Hailey has had a great day today. They moved her from an oscillating ventilator to a traditional vent, and the settings are lower than they've ever been. Her left lung looks much clearer, and they put in a PICC line, which means that they should be able to take out her umbilical lines in the next day or two. If things continue to progress, she should be extubated tomorrow or the next day, then we can begin to hold her.

About two days after birth she had so much swelling that her skin on her abdomen was starting to split. Apparently, this is due to the amount of blood volume she needed and the salt content of blood. Nevertheless, she's been peeing like crazy, and as she has done so, her edema has reduced greatly, and now she is starting to look a lot more like her little sister.

The steady, incremental progress has been very reassuring, even if we have a very long journey ahead of us. Thanks again for all the support.

seclark · 08-03-2011, 03:18 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by 'Hamas' Jenkins

Some more good news today. They took Logan off of her ventilator yesterday, now she just has a nasal canula in, and the oxygen she is getting is room air concentration, down from 40% yesterday. We both get to hold her daily, and she tolerates it very well. It's amazing how small, but resilient she is, and even though she gets really upset when they move her, she falls asleep almost the instant we put her on our chests. It's truly a wonderful feeling.

Hailey has had a great day today. They moved her from an oscillating ventilator to a traditional vent, and the settings are lower than they've ever been. Her left lung looks much clearer, and they put in a PICC line, which means that they should be able to take out her umbilical lines in the next day or two. If things continue to progress, she should be extubated tomorrow or the next day, then we can begin to hold her.

About two days after birth she had so much swelling that her skin on her abdomen was starting to split. Apparently, this is due to the amount of blood volume she needed and the salt content of blood. Nevertheless, she's been peeing like crazy, and as she has done so, her edema has reduced greatly, and now she is starting to look a lot more like her little sister.

The steady, incremental progress has been very reassuring, even if we have a very long journey ahead of us. Thanks again for all the support.

sounds great. i'm happy for you all.
sec

'Hamas' Jenkins · 08-03-2011, 03:22 PM

Here's a picture of me holding her for the first time (Tom Selleck Alert):

**OnTheWarpath15** · 08-03-2011, 03:24 PM

Awesome news, man.

kepp · 08-03-2011, 03:28 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by 'Hamas' Jenkins

Here's a picture of me holding her for the first time (Tom Selleck Alert):

I'm gonna have to delete the chest hair from memory, but apart from that, it's a beautiful, touching picture. Still praying for them...

NewChief · 08-03-2011, 04:07 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by 'Hamas' Jenkins

Some more good news today. They took Logan off of her ventilator yesterday, now she just has a nasal canula in, and the oxygen she is getting is room air concentration, down from 40% yesterday. We both get to hold her daily, and she tolerates it very well. It's amazing how small, but resilient she is, and even though she gets really upset when they move her, she falls asleep almost the instant we put her on our chests. It's truly a wonderful feeling.

Hailey has had a great day today. They moved her from an oscillating ventilator to a traditional vent, and the settings are lower than they've ever been. Her left lung looks much clearer, and they put in a PICC line, which means that they should be able to take out her umbilical lines in the next day or two. If things continue to progress, she should be extubated tomorrow or the next day, then we can begin to hold her.

About two days after birth she had so much swelling that her skin on her abdomen was starting to split. Apparently, this is due to the amount of blood volume she needed and the salt content of blood. Nevertheless, she's been peeing like crazy, and as she has done so, her edema has reduced greatly, and now she is starting to look a lot more like her little sister.

The steady, incremental progress has been very reassuring, even if we have a very long journey ahead of us. Thanks again for all the support.

It is CRAZY how resilient babies are now with modern medicine. They're like freaking Wolverine. That might be a good nickname for Logan when she gets older.

**SAUTO** · 08-03-2011, 04:21 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by 'Hamas' Jenkins

Some more good news today. They took Logan off of her ventilator yesterday, now she just has a nasal canula in, and the oxygen she is getting is room air concentration, down from 40% yesterday. We both get to hold her daily, and she tolerates it very well. It's amazing how small, but resilient she is, and even though she gets really upset when they move her, she falls asleep almost the instant we put her on our chests. It's truly a wonderful feeling.

Hailey has had a great day today. They moved her from an oscillating ventilator to a traditional vent, and the settings are lower than they've ever been. Her left lung looks much clearer, and they put in a PICC line, which means that they should be able to take out her umbilical lines in the next day or two. If things continue to progress, she should be extubated tomorrow or the next day, then we can begin to hold her.

About two days after birth she had so much swelling that her skin on her abdomen was starting to split. Apparently, this is due to the amount of blood volume she needed and the salt content of blood. Nevertheless, she's been peeing like crazy, and as she has done so, her edema has reduced greatly, and now she is starting to look a lot more like her little sister.

The steady, incremental progress has been very reassuring, even if we have a very long journey ahead of us. Thanks again for all the support.

good to hear, will keep the prayers coming

milkman · 08-03-2011, 04:26 PM

Good news.

I hope that you will be someday posting those pictures of healthy, happy 7 year olds as Phil did with his 7 year old.

LiveSteam · 08-03-2011, 04:51 PM

Awesome Mr. Jenkins. Just Awesome.

07-29-2011, 03:29 AM
'Hamas' Jenkins Now you've pissed me off! Join Date: Jan 2006 Casino cash: $7919572	Our Babies Could Use Your Support The great news is that I am a dad of two beautiful little girls. The terrible news is that those girls are in extreme medical duress. Yesterday, my wife gave birth, via emergency c-section, at 29 weeks, two days. At sixteen weeks, what looked like a normal, but rare, identical twin pregnancy became far more complicated. Our babies were diagnosed with a disorder that happens about 15% of the time with identical twin pregnancies called Twin-to-Twin Transfusion Syndrome. A detailed medical description isn’t necessary, but a brief one may help to understand. The placenta provides blood flow and nutrition to a developing fetus. Most of the time, identical twins draw from the placenta with little issue, but in Twin-to-Twin, there is an imbalance. One twin, called the recipient, pulls too much blood from the placenta, and also the other baby. This makes the recipient polycythemic, basically the exact opposite of anemic. With too much blood, especially red blood cells, the blood becomes sludgy, and all the extra fluid which the baby receives from the extra blood puts a great deal of strain on their system, and can lead to congestive heart failure and other problems. The other twin, the donor, experiences problems due to a lack of blood volume. As a result of this circulatory imbalance, there is a massive discrepancy in amniotic fluid. The recipient swims in a pool of it, while the donor is, in essence, shrink-wrapped by the lack of fluid as the amniotic sac pulls in around it. The condition is gravely serious, and without treatment, will usually carry a mortality risk of 100%. After finding out that what we thought was going to be a normal pregnancy was anything but at 16 weeks, we had a procedure done in St. Louis called fetoscopic laser ablation. Developed a little over a decade ago, surgeons make a small incision in the mother’s abdomen, and with a small endoscope and laser, cauterize shared vessels between the two twins. This helps to establish a normal blood flow between the two babies. We had this procedure done on May 6. Initially, everything looked great, as the fluid levels between the two babies balanced out, and blood flow patterns appeared within normal range. About three weeks after the procedure, our specialists noticed that the condition had actually reversed itself. About 10% of the time, the condition will spontaneously reverse itself. It was apparent to doctors at this appointment that this had happened near the end of May. Fluid levels were imbalanced, but still at the very end of normal. As such, the doctors felt it was the best interests in prolonging the pregnancy, which was not yet at viability, to avoid another event that would require making a hole in the amniotic sac. Thus, we embarked on a pattern of extreme vigilance. At multiple appointments per week, doctors performed an ultrasound wherein they would measure amniotic fluid levels, blood flow across the umbilical cords, and within the cerebral arteries in the brain. After this second scare, it appeared that things began to normalize. Most of our subsequent appointments looked improved, and everything appeared to be on a healthy, normal trajectory. Until Wednesday night. Late Wednesday, my wife began to feel a series of small contractions. While normal in the third trimester, she had enough in a short period of time that it was necessary to call the doctor. He had us come into the hospital for closer monitoring, and after doing so, noticed that one of our babies was in distress. We had three ultrasounds last night and early into Wednesday morning, and after doing so, the doctors felt that it was in the best interests of the babies to deliver them at an extremely early, 29 weeks, but still viable age. At 5:09 and 5:10 pm yesterday, we welcomed our little girls into the world. Continued in post #2 Last edited by 'Hamas' Jenkins; 07-29-2011 at 04:51 AM.. Reason: Got my days mixed up
Posts: 74,860

08-02-2011, 10:12 AM	#196
MOhillbilly Mama Tried Join Date: Dec 2002 Location: Missouri Casino cash: $9949903	Good thoughts to you and yours, Ese. __________________ True Son of Liberty
Posts: 23,371

08-02-2011, 12:06 PM	#199
\|Zach\| For The Glory Of The City Join Date: Sep 2002 Location: Kansas City Casino cash: $5106768	Hammas' kids are fighters. Deal with it.
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08-02-2011, 11:49 PM	#200
Phobia Guest Casino cash: $	A little over 8 years ago I posted a picture on this very site of a tiny little girl whose legs about the size of my fingers. I could easily slid my wedding band over her foot and up onto her thigh. She didn't have near the medical issues your girls have but she was about their size. She's now 8 and a picture of perfect health. I trust you'll share pictures of your girls in 8 years just as I have. Attached Thumbnails
Posts: n/a

08-03-2011, 02:57 PM	#201
Radar Chief Wearing ballistic dog goggles. Join Date: Mar 2001 Location: In the box. Casino cash: $4881503	Any improvement is good news. __________________ Like "Cool Hand" Luke I'm busting rocks. __/\|_/[___] \|/ \\_\| ---OllllO _( ))~-( ))-0--))
Posts: 25,296

08-03-2011, 03:16 PM	#202
'Hamas' Jenkins Now you've pissed me off! Join Date: Jan 2006 Casino cash: $7919572	Some more good news today. They took Logan off of her ventilator yesterday, now she just has a nasal canula in, and the oxygen she is getting is room air concentration, down from 40% yesterday. We both get to hold her daily, and she tolerates it very well. It's amazing how small, but resilient she is, and even though she gets really upset when they move her, she falls asleep almost the instant we put her on our chests. It's truly a wonderful feeling. Hailey has had a great day today. They moved her from an oscillating ventilator to a traditional vent, and the settings are lower than they've ever been. Her left lung looks much clearer, and they put in a PICC line, which means that they should be able to take out her umbilical lines in the next day or two. If things continue to progress, she should be extubated tomorrow or the next day, then we can begin to hold her. About two days after birth she had so much swelling that her skin on her abdomen was starting to split. Apparently, this is due to the amount of blood volume she needed and the salt content of blood. Nevertheless, she's been peeing like crazy, and as she has done so, her edema has reduced greatly, and now she is starting to look a lot more like her little sister. The steady, incremental progress has been very reassuring, even if we have a very long journey ahead of us. Thanks again for all the support. __________________ "When the Know-Nothings get control, it will read 'all men are created equal, except negroes, and foreigners, and Catholics.' When it comes to this I should prefer emigrating to some country where they make no pretense of loving liberty – to Russia, for instance, where despotism can be taken pure, and without the base alloy of hypocrisy.”--Abraham Lincoln
Posts: 74,860

08-03-2011, 03:22 PM	#204
'Hamas' Jenkins Now you've pissed me off! Join Date: Jan 2006 Casino cash: $7919572	Here's a picture of me holding her for the first time (Tom Selleck Alert): __________________ "When the Know-Nothings get control, it will read 'all men are created equal, except negroes, and foreigners, and Catholics.' When it comes to this I should prefer emigrating to some country where they make no pretense of loving liberty – to Russia, for instance, where despotism can be taken pure, and without the base alloy of hypocrisy.”--Abraham Lincoln
Posts: 74,860

08-03-2011, 03:24 PM	#205
OnTheWarpath15 MVP Join Date: Sep 2005 Casino cash: $4671115	Awesome news, man.
Posts: 60,273

08-03-2011, 04:26 PM	#209
milkman Dumbass! Join Date: Aug 2000 Location: Leading the Marty bashing Casino cash: $10029395	Good news. I hope that you will be someday posting those pictures of healthy, happy 7 year olds as Phil did with his 7 year old. __________________
Posts: 70,769

08-03-2011, 04:51 PM	#210
LiveSteam The Constitutional Choo choo Join Date: Dec 2009 Location: homeof43conferencetitles Casino cash: $1675432	Awesome Mr. Jenkins. Just Awesome.
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