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Hayley Lampshire received the good news that she’s having twins. The bad news is the twins seemed to be experiencing a rare yet fatal condition in which the two had to share one amniotic sac. Twins usually have one each.
It’s very crucial for both babies to not make any huge moves that could threaten the possibility of them getting entangled by their umbilical cords. This situation, if it ever happened, could starve both babies and strangle each other.
There’s really nothing Hayley, who’s a 27 years old mother from Kidlington, Oxfordshire, could do. However, it seemed like the twins were handling the situation themselves.
Hayley decided to check the situation and discovered that the twins appeared to be holding each other’s hands and cuddling each other.
Hayley then gave birth to the twins through a Caesarian method last August 25. Rowan and Blake both weighed four pounds.
Hayley said, “My husband, Charlie, and I were heartbroken when we found out our babies were in danger. Because the boys were in the same amniotic sac their cords could get tangled if they moved around, which would cut off their oxygen and food supply.
“If that did happen then it would be likely that we wouldn’t know, we couldn’t do anything to prevent it which was the scariest part. They needed to keep still in order to keep one another alive and in some pictures, they even look like they’re cuddling.
“We were relieved when the boys were finally delivered by C-section and they are now both doing really well. Charlie and I were terrified at first, but we want to share our story to reassure others that there is hope, something that we struggled to find when doing our own research.
“So far, they have been good at sharing, after all it saved their lives, but I’m sure it will be a different story when they get older. At our 12 week scan we found out that we were having twins, which left us completely in shock as we had no idea how we were going to cope with two babies.
“But at that same scan we were told our pregnancy was going to be high risk and a week later we were sent to a specialist who confirmed I was carrying Monoamniotic-Monochorionic twins.
“We were told that a selective termination would be a very last resort but we tried not to think about it. As the babies got bigger there was more of a chance of their cords becoming tangled.
“The percentage of Mo-Mo twins surviving has now increased a little thanks to amazing medical advances, but of course this didn’t stop us worrying. I was booked in for a C-section at 34 weeks as the doctors didn’t want to risk them getting any bigger, I was huge at this point.
“The boys were born 36 seconds apart, Rowan weighed 2.12kg and Blake weighed 2.05kg, and were taken straight to special care. They had fluid on their lungs and were struggling to breathe on their own.
“I was discharged three days later, but the boys had to stay in the hospital for three weeks before we could finally bring them home and leaving them there was the hardest part.
“But the boys are now doing really well and are growing so fast, and Charlie and I know how lucky we are to have them both here. When they get older we will tell them how special their bond is.”
Hayley, who’s a primary school teacher, married her husband Charlie in 2015. She was pregnant a few months after the celebration.
The risk factor of pregnancy usually goes down after 12 weeks. Since Hayley and her twins’ case is rare and fatal, the percentage of risk only kept on going higher and higher. Even since they were born, Rowan and Blake didn’t stop cuddling each other and holding hands.
It was indeed a miracle that both babies had survived the risky pregnancy. Hopefully, as they grow, these babies would continue being close and connected to one another. Surely, having a twin—an instant friend, or worse, an enemy—could at least be beneficial to the overall well-being of a person. Rowan and Blake will definitely lead interesting lives.
