The featured blogger this week is Heather of TwinSane Asylum. Heather is the proud MoM of 2 year old twins, E-Dude and G-Man. Heather’s boys are TTTS survivors and she has so much to share on the topic!

What made you decide to start a blog?

I wanted to have a place to chronicle life with twins as well as have a place to keep all of these memories for the boys to see one day. It was also an motivator to seek out other moms of multiples and their blogs and engage in community with others.

How did you and your family react to news of twins?

Massive shock! My husband and I went to our initial sonogram on April 1. We were looking at the screen and I thought I saw two little blobs, but wasn’t sure. Then our sonographer started laughing and asked how we felt about 2 babies. Our first response was “April Fool’s?”

Telling our families was interesting, as they had no idea we were even trying to conceive. There was a great deal of rejoicing and quite a few tears of joy. I know we vacillated between excitement and panic over how we were going to handle 2 babies at once.

What tips do you have for parents that just discovered they are pregnant with twins?

Be prepared for people to ask many questions. For some reason, being pregnant with twins causes people to think they can ask all sorts of personal questions!

Get in a LOT of protein…Boost or Ensure shakes will help. Growing 2 babies means your protein needs are very high.

Get informed-find out if there is a Multiples group in your area, reach out and ask questions!

Tell your doctor you want frequent ultrasounds and don’t take no for an answer (or be prepared to switch doctors.) Twin pregnancies are high risk and should be monitored closely.

Get excited! Twins are a huge blessing, and you will wonder how you ever managed without them.

Your twins are TTTS survivors, can you discuss this and share any tips you have for a family in a similar situation?

Right after we discovered we were having twins, our doctor had a frank conversation with us about the high risk nature of the pregnancy. She also mentioned the risk of Twin to Twin Transfusion Syndrome and our risk for it since the babies had a thin membrane and one placenta. I naturally Googled it when I got home and read horror stories. I also read about the relative rareness of the syndrome and tried not to worry about it.

Around 16 weeks there was some concern about fluid discrepancy between the boys. I went on modified bed rest, drank tons of protein shakes, and got monitored every few days. By 19 weeks, we had definite TTTS and were referred for evaluation at one of the hospitals that performs laser ablation surgery.

TTTS is scary. It is fast, and it can be devastating. Even worse, many doctors don’t know much about it, because it is ‘rare.’ I urge anyone when they find out they are pregnant with twins to ask if there is one placenta. If so, you MUST demand frequent ultrasounds. That is the only way they can catch it. For us, the situation progressed to very severe in a matter of days. Our boys are lucky. Laser ablation corrected the situation and they are here today. We credit our obstetrician with this, because she monitored us from the beginning. Many families aren’t as fortunate.

If you do find out there is the possibility of TTTS, reach out, get informed and be ready to seek out multiple opinions. The TTTS Foundation is an amazing resource and wealth of information and support. They helped us greatly when we got our diagnosis, and they will step in to help you advocate for you and your babies. There are several other help groups that are also fabulous. The most important thing I can stress is to reach out and ask for help, this is not something you have to go through alone.

There IS hope with TTTS, my little dudes are living proof of that.

What are some of your favorite activities to do as a family?

We love being outside-the boys love animals so we are often chasing around animals and running for the slides on the playground or blowing bubbles. When it gets a little warmer we look forward to going to the pool since the boys absolutely love water! We are also looking forward to getting to the zoo and aquarium this summer.

E-dude loves music and dancing, while G-man loves climbing everything possible 🙂

Anything that gets our little wild things out and moving is a good thing.

What question(s) do you have for the other families in the community?

How did/do you handle temper tantrums out in public?

Any advice on potty training?

What are some ideas for separate “dates” with each boy and mom and dad?

Be sure to leave your answer to Heather’s questions in the comment section and then head over to TwinSane Asylum to leave some bloggy love!