The dreaded disease: Twin-to-twin Transfusion Syndrome

I am writing this post with a heavy heart and I have been contemplating to share my experience because TTTS is a wicked disease and it has indeed changed our lives from week 22 onwards.

What is TTTS you asked?

Twin to Twin Transfusion Syndrome (TTTS) is a disease of the placenta (or afterbirth) that affects identical twin pregnancies. It is a random disease, has got nothing to do with what the parents did or did not do and it can happen to anyone. See http://www.tttsfoundation.org/ for more information on TTTS.

That is why TTTS is wicked, prior to being diagnosed with TTTS Stage II at 22 weeks gestation, our twin boys had been growing healthily.

My husband and I were pretty excited to see our obgyn at Gleneagles following our Europe trip. Yup, I travelled for nearly 12 days to Paris and London, walked and shopped like I was not even carrying twins. The 12 days we spent in London and Paris were the best experience ever, especially since in a couple of months time, we will be busy with our twin boys.

On that appointment day at Gleneagles early May, I was already suffering from breathlessness, my legs felt too heavy and sore, and my stomach seemed to be growing at an alarming rate. My weight increased from the consistent 2kg to nearly 5kg since my last appointment with the obgyn. Being 1st time parents, we were unaware that there might be something wrong as throughout my pregnancy thus far, I have people telling me that I do not look like I am carrying twins. I also have people telling me that my babies might not have enough nutrients hence my stomach looked small. Of course, I ignored their comments - but I was quite glad that my stomach actually showed by week 21.

However, little did I, or the others know that TTTS has silently crept up inside me. By week 21, I weighed nearly 74kg and my legs were so puffed up, I looked almost like a penguin. The obgyn did not detect any TTTS when we saw her that day, so I carried on working, even going all the way to Tuas to do an audit albeit feeling really unwell that week.

**Note to 1st time mothers-to-be, please ignore what others think, go with your guts, if you feel breathless and your legs and stomach are swelling at an alarming rate, please see your obgyn immediately for further diagnosis. If you are carrying multiples, do note that your pregnancy is usually considered as high risk, hence, even the slightest change should be reported to your obgyn or MFM (Maternal-Fetal Medicine) specialist immediately.

More on the dreaded disease in my next post.. Feeling kind of emotional already from typing this post..