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Jane and Ben Whettingsteel were thrilled when their first ultrasound told them they were going to be having twin boys.
But their excitement was short-lived.
At Jane’s 12-week ultrasound, she was told that her boys – Jake and Oli – were suffering from twin-to-twin transfusion syndrome (TTTS), a condition where the blood flow from her body, through her umbilical cord, to her children was abnormal.
Jake was receiving all the nutrients he needed to grow, but Oli was left “starved.”
Left in this state, there was no chance Oli would survive.
When the Whettingsteel parents received the news, it was hard not to become overwhelmed and panicked. “I tried so hard to be really calm throughout my pregnancy as I didn’t want any additional stress to harm the babies,” Jane explained. “I decided I was going to stay positive and say that I knew I could do this.
“I was determined to do everything in my power to keep these babies safe.”
Jane’s doctors wanted to do everything they could to save the boys, so they offered to perform a laser operation when the two were still in Jane’s womb.
When Jake and Oli were 17 weeks old, doctors believed their bodies would be stable enough to undergo a laser surgery that could more evenly reconnect the boys to their mother.
Although the surgeons made no guarantee of the results of the procedure, Jane and Ben were more than willing to go for it.
Thankfully, the 45-minute operation went smoothly. Doctors were able to reconnect the blood vessels as needed and told Jane she’d made the right decision: Oli had only been connected by one, single, thin blood vessel. Anything smaller, and he would have been lost.
“That was the scariest moment, when I realized we were really close to losing them,” Jane said. “I couldn't get over how miraculous that surgery was. It was so intricate and they could do it without damaging anything. I have been left with just a tiny mark on my stomach.”
Just nine weeks later, Jane returned to the hospital; she’d begun bleeding and doctors feared that her boys were ready to be born.
They were right. At just 28 weeks, Jake and Oli were both born. Each weighed just under 3 pounds, but doctors were fairly confident about their health. For having been so unevenly connected in the beginning of their development, Oli had turned out almost exactly the same size as his brother.
Now, the Whettingsteel twins have just celebrated their first birthday. Though doctors are still a little concerned about their future, Jake and Oli’s future is looking much brighter than before.
