January 31, 2016 by 5 Comments

Liz Mier Photo

Liz

Mom to Lola

April 26, 2014 – April 29, 2014

Santa Cruz, California

“There’s two in there!”

The midwife’s words, spoken at my first trimester ultrasound in October 2013, came as a delightful surprise. Never in the world did I imagine I would give birth to twins! My husband Kenny and I were very excited. We had suffered a miscarriage just a few months earlier, so we took this news as a happy, karmic reward. Twins don’t run in either of our families, but as I soon found out, identical twins (which is what we were having), aren’t tied to genetics at all. They happen randomly–when the egg splits in two after being fertilized–and occur in about 1 in 300 to 400 pregnancies.

Twin pregnancies, and especially identical twin pregnancies in which just one placenta nourishes both babies, are considered high-risk. While I was fearful about having this label attached to me, I felt more at ease as my pregnancy progressed. Everything seemed to be going okay. I was being seen approximately every two weeks, by either my delivering OB, or by the consulting specialists affiliated with Lucille Packard Children’s Hospital—one of the best hospitals in the nation. (Although Lucile Packard is located in Palo Alto, an hour’s drive away from my home in Santa Cruz, they fortunately have a satellite office/diagnostic center here in Santa Cruz, so I didn’t have to drive too far for my appointments.) And, starting at about 30 weeks, I had twice-weekly non-stress tests at the hospital in town where I would be delivering (Dominican Hospital). I was scheduled to be induced at 37 weeks gestation–on May 1st, 2014. I wanted to at least try for a natural birth, even though I knew that many sets of twins are delivered via C-section. [Read more…]

http://facesofloss.com/2016/01/8111.html

Filed Under: 2014, Infant loss, Neonatal death, TTTS, Twin Loss, Twins
February 12, 2015 by Leave a Comment

unnamed

Meghan

Mom to Samuel (miscarriage) July 18, 2012 and

Reagan Catherine (born sleeping) October 31, 2012

Fort Mill, South Carolina

I married my college sweetheart on May 26, 2007 after dating for 4 years.  He was the love of my life.  Everything seemed to work out perfectly as we met in our first class as college freshmen and married 2 weeks after graduation.  Life was easy and going exactly according to plan.  We decided in 2009 that we wanted to have children.  I figured it would take 2 months, 3 tops.  And then we could share the joy with our families that year at Thanksgiving.  And then at Christmas.  His birthday party?  Maybe 4th of July?  Football tailgate reunions??  And on it went.  No pregnancy, month after month.

[Read more…]

http://facesofloss.com/2015/02/7347.html

Filed Under: 2012, endometriosis, Infertility, IVF, miscarriage, South Carolina, Stillbirth, Twin Loss, Twins
February 12, 2015 by 3 Comments

IMG_1096Vanessa

Mom of Max Michael and Leo William

Born and died July 16, 2013

Boston, Massachusetts

My husband and I found each other when we were both in our late 30’s. We were ready to be married and we were ready to be parents. In the next 14 months (after our honeymoon) when we weren’t yet pregnant, our excitement turned to surprise and then soon to worry. I changed my diet (I’m a registered dietitian so of course this would help, right?) to follow the “fertility diet plan”, reduced my work hours from full to part time, started acupuncture, reduced my caffeine, reduced my physical activity to keep my heart rate under 110… you name it and I did it. My husband too, though all of his tests were fine, started reading about increasing his testosterone with cold showers, more cholesterol from food, etc. Basically, we felt like we had nothing to lose and if there were a chance it could help, why not?
[Read more…]

http://facesofloss.com/2015/02/7334.html

Filed Under: 2013, 21 weeks, endometriosis, Infant loss, Infertility, IVF, massachusetts, Second trimester loss, Stillbirth, Twin Loss, Twins
February 11, 2015 by Leave a Comment

Face of LossLaura

Mom to Jared Wayne & Jackson

October 28, 2012

St. Matthews, South Carolina

On May 28, 2011, my husband and I celebrated our first wedding anniversary. On June 3rd, I noticed that I was 3 days late… and I’m NEVER late. I took a pregnancy test that afternoon and to my not-so-much surprise, it came back positive. My husband and I were both excited and nervous. We waited to tell our family until Father’s Day. We had made coffee cups for our fathers that said “To Be Grandpa, Feb. 2012.” My first doctor’s appointment was in the middle of July. We had an ultrasound done at our first appointment. I was around 10 weeks or so and to our astonishment, there were two little babies showing up on the monitor. My husband and I were floored! We went home and shared the news with our families and my side [of the family] reminded me that when I was little, I always said I was going to have twins.

[Read more…]

http://facesofloss.com/2015/02/7281.html

Filed Under: 2012, 27 weeks, South Carolina, Stillbirth, Twin Loss, twin to twin transfusion syndrome, Twins
February 5, 2015 by 1 Comment

Faces of LossKrystal

Mother to Conner Timothy & Benjamin Michael

Born and lost on January 10, 2014

Illinois

I look at pictures of myself while I was pregnant, just a short 5 months ago [at time of writing]. I can’t help but think that I was so young back then; I have hardly aged since the pictures were last taken, but my heart now bears the weight of what seems like a million losses. It took nearly two years for my husband and I to get pregnant. Our babies were the fruition of the emotional and physical turmoil of IVF, and they were taken from us.  And yet, they were worth every single second of despair and frustration.

[Read more…]

http://facesofloss.com/2015/02/6972.html

Filed Under: 2014, 22 weeks, Chorioamnionitis, Illinois, Infant loss, IVF, Multiple loss, Neonatal death, premature birth, Second trimester loss, Twins
January 29, 2015 by Leave a Comment

I&P2Kimberly

Mom to Isaac and Porter

November 16, 2011

Springville, Utah

It has been over a year since we lost our twins [at time of writing] and honestly their story doesn’t get any easier to write.

My husband and I planned my pregnancy and were fortunate enough to get pregnant very quickly. I was over the moon excited, but nervous during the first trimester. Once I made it to thirteen weeks, I breathed a huge sigh of relief and started to plan our future with our baby. I had no idea that anything could happen beyond that point. Stillbirth was something that happened to people I didn’t know or at least rarely enough that it wouldn’t affect me.

[Read more…]

http://facesofloss.com/2015/01/6583.html

Filed Under: 2011, Stillbirth, TRAP Sequence, Twin Loss, Twins, Uncategorized
January 28, 2015 by Leave a Comment

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Kayla

Mom to Jaylen and Quincy

Born/Passed June 17, 2008

Mom to Payton Ann

Born/Passed August 27, 2011

It all started June 17, 2008. I was about six months pregnant with twin boys. I noticed some bleeding which is of course a red flag in pregnancy. I immediately called my doctor who told me to come in so he could give me an examination. I raced over to the office upset and thinking the worst. He started by doing an ultrasound. I watched the screen intently and saw both little guys moving around. “Yes, they are ok,” I thought to myself.

[Read more…]

http://facesofloss.com/2015/01/6577.html

Filed Under: 2008, 2011, 21 weeks, Back-to-back loss, Multiple loss, Stillbirth, Twins, Uncategorized
January 28, 2015 by Leave a Comment

mary

Mary

Mom to Roger Roy II – Born and Died on August 30, 2012

Mom to Guy David – Born and Died on August 31, 2012

Culver, Indiana

My name is Mary.  My husband and I have been married since June 2009.  We live in a small town in Indiana in the middle of nowhere on a lake.  We decided we wanted to try to start a family in June 2010, so I went off birth control and figured it would ‘just happen’.  No one in my family or his had ever had any problems getting pregnant.  After a little over a year of trying, we decided to start the testing to see if there was anything wrong.  My husband checked out just fine.  I, on the other hand, had too much scar tissue (from abdominal surgeries due to Crohns Disease).  Our only option to have a family was to do IVF.  We were set up with a wonderful reproductive endocrinologist in Indianapolis, IN (we live in a very small town).  We began the cycle in April/May 2012 and it was picture perfect.  We implanted 2 beautiful embryos (as the embryologist called them), and found out on May 24 that we were pregnant.  My HSG numbers were pretty high, so the docs and us were pretty confident that both embryos had implanted and I became sick instantly!  On June 9th, we had our ultrasound to see and hear 2 beautiful beating heartbeats after 2 years of trying to start our family.  We were both ecstatic!  Besides being sick, the pregnancy was going very well. At every ultrasound the boys were doing great and growing at the rate they were supposed do despite how sick I was.

[Read more…]

http://facesofloss.com/2015/01/6467.html

Filed Under: 2012, Incompetent Cervix, Indiana, Preterm labor, Twins
January 27, 2015 by Leave a Comment

nathalie

Nathalie Himmelrich

Mom to Amya Mirica Hope

September 1, 2011 – September 3, 2011

Zurich, Switzerland

After being unsuccessful at becoming pregnant naturally, we conceived in our first round of IVF, after implanting one egg, which subsequently split and graced us with expecting identical twin girls.

During our 19-week scan, we were told that one of our twins showed abnormalities in her kidneys. After our scan, the girls got fed up being called ‘twin 1’ and ‘twin 2’ and we chose Angel cards to give them names in utero. Since then, we referred to them as Passion and Hope – very synchronistic, as twin 2 chose Hope and she was the one dealing with her malformed kidneys.

[Read more…]

http://facesofloss.com/2015/01/6496.html

Filed Under: 2011, Early Miscarriage, IVF, Loss of a Multiple, Multicystic Kidneys, MURCS, Neonatal death, Switzlerand, Twin Loss, Twins
March 25, 2014 by Leave a Comment

Kelly

Mom to Colin Martin
December 12, 2013 to December 14, 2013  

and

Nathan Daniel
December 12, 2013 to January 7, 2014

The 2013 Holiday season was nothing like we were expecting and was not full of joy and happiness like it should be. It was the day before Thanksgiving and we had our routine ultra sound with the Maternal Fetal Medicine doctors. We were pregnant with identical twin boys and we got to see them every other week in an ultra sound. When we first found out we were having identical twins, we got referred to the MFM doctors to monitor my pregnancy for Twin Twin Transfusion Syndrome. This is where a connection in the shared placenta is distributing nutrients unevenly and one baby gets bigger than the other one.  [Read more…]

http://facesofloss.com/2014/03/6301.html

Filed Under: Identical Twins, Infant loss, NICU, premature birth, Twin Loss, twin to twin transfusion syndrome, Twins
October 21, 2012 by 3 Comments

Courtney

Mom to Layla Angelina, stillborn April 11, 2007

and

Twin boys, lost April 22, 2005

Fort Lauderdale, Florida

Growing up was very hard for me. At the age of 13, my mother gave birth to triplets. My sister was stillborn and my brother died within 24 hours of birth due to his lungs collapsing. My mother was addicted to drugs and gave me up for adoption. Luckily, I was adopted at 6 weeks old into a middle class family and I was the only child. Two days before my 12th birthday, my innocence was taken from me and 9 months later I gave birth to a beautiful baby boy who was named Brian Anthony. I wanted him to have a better life, so I gave him up for adoption. After that my life took a wrong turn. I started doing drugs and drinking, and I wasn’t on the right path to succeed. At 16 years old I got pregnant with a little girl and my boyfriend and I named her Layla Angelina. The moment I found out I was pregnant (at about 6 weeks) I got clean and sober and I haven’t touched drugs since (this November will be 6 years clean for me). [Read more…]

http://facesofloss.com/2012/10/6061.html

Filed Under: 2005, 2007, Florida, miscarriage, Second trimester loss, Stillbirth, Twin Loss, Twins
October 18, 2012 by 4 Comments

Sarah

Mom to Silas Theodore
Lost September 2, 2011 at 18 ½ weeks gestation,

and twins Asher Saul
Lost May 10, 2012 at 19 weeks gestation

and

Sadie Irene
Lost May 14, 2012 at 20 weeks gestation

Michigan City, Indiana

I was absolutely ecstatic and shocked beyond belief when I found out I was pregnant with Silas. I think it took me 6 pregnancy tests over the course of a weekend to really believe I was finally being blessed with a child at 32 years of age. I had tried to conceive naturally for almost two years and I think I had just given up hope that it was ever going to happen. Needless to say, I was very involved with my prenatal visits and constantly read up on everything I could be expecting and what I should do to ensure a healthy pregnancy.  I don’t think I ever prayed so much in my whole life! But as I got bigger, my pregnancy started to cause me concern. I had a lot of unexplained shooting pains when I would stand up or sneeze, and I sneeze a lot when I’m pregnant! The doctors always reassured me everything was normal and I got extra ultrasounds and examinations to ensure this. By the time Silas was born at 18 1/2 weeks, I think I already had 4 pictures of him proudly displayed around the house and near my bed! [Read more…]

http://facesofloss.com/2012/10/6037.html

Filed Under: 18 weeks, 19 weeks, 20 weeks, 2011, 2012, Incompetent Cervix, Indiana, pPROM, Preterm labor, Second trimester loss, Stillbirth, Twins
September 16, 2012 by 1 Comment

Tara

Mom to Antton David and Rayland Joseph

Lost September 6, 2012

Burlington Junction, Missouri

We found out in July that we were expecting “momo” twins. This was quite a shock. I went to the ER because I thought I was starting to miscarry. They couldn’t find the heart beat and sent me down for an ultrasound. The tech found the heart beat immediately. Such a relief, but then she moved to get a better picture of our baby and found there were two and only one placenta and one sac. This is what they call monochromic/monoamnionic twins. We were so excited. At the time I was around 14 weeks. Our girls, ages 4, 6, 8 and 10, were happy as well. Our youngest said she wanted baby sisters because little boys are mean, but the other three wanted baby brothers because they just don’t get along with each other and I guess they thought that boys would be more fun or something. [Read more…]

http://facesofloss.com/2012/09/5887.html

Filed Under: 18 weeks, 2012, Late Miscarriage, Missouri, Monoamniotic Twins, Second trimester loss, Twins
September 16, 2012 by 1 Comment

Jimmy and Sherri

Dad and Mom to Andrew and James

Born June 10, 2011, and passed the same day

Tucson, Arizona

We delivered our sons just over 22 weeks gestation. Andy’s heart stopped just prior to delivery. Fifteen minutes later, Jimmy was delivered and died several minutes after in our arms desperately trying to breathe on his own. [Read more…]

http://facesofloss.com/2012/09/5883.html

Filed Under: 2011, 22 weeks, Arizona, Neonatal death, premature birth, Stillbirth, Twins
September 2, 2012 by 1 Comment

Suzanne

Mom to Marshall and Jackson

Born still July 7, 2012

Strasburg, Virginia

My husband, Dave and I are in our late twenties. We found out we were pregnant in for the first time last year in May 2011, and at 8 weeks along, I miscarried our baby. We gave it time and started trying again. We found out we were pregnant again this past April. So excited, I went to an early ultrasound and found out I was carrying twins! I was so scared of the idea at first, but as time went on I started to get really happy and excited about the two of them. [Read more…]

http://facesofloss.com/2012/09/5831.html

Filed Under: 20 weeks, 2012, Early Miscarriage, Single Umbilical Artery, Stillbirth, Twins
June 30, 2012 by 3 Comments

Melissa

Mom to twins

Lost June 28, 2012, between 7 and 9 weeks’ gestation

Hickory, North Carolina

I want to start with my good things. Between me and my spouse, we have 7 healthy , happy (for the most part) children, 3 each from previous marriages and 1 together, ranging from age 22 down to 3. He has a set of identical twins that will be 16 this year. We are blessed. Therefore…it was shocking to us while being on the pill to get a positive home test on June 5, 2012. Two more positive tests at home to follow, but I was bleeding and spotting so I went to the doctor. June 6, they did a vaginal exam and drew blood for hCG. I was pregnant. But a follow up hCG on June 8 was next. When I went in, they did another vaginal exam and decided based on info I did not know yet – my hCG was high – to do an ultrasound. [Read more…]

http://facesofloss.com/2012/06/5627.html

Filed Under: 2012, 9 weeks, Early Miscarriage, North Carolina, Spotting, Twins
June 23, 2012 by 6 Comments

Kelly

Mom to Faith Elizabeth and Grace Katherine
Stillborn November 3, 1996 at 26 weeks’ gestation

and

Thomas Patrick
Born and died July 14, 1998

Ohio

Tim and I were married in March of 1994. We had a son, Timothy. Two years into our marriage, I was expecting again…and there were many surprises…First of all, everything was different with this pregnancy…there was more fatigue, more nausea, more belly, and more “stretching pains”. At our first ultrasound appointment around 6-8 weeks, the doctor confirmed, after a series of disconcerting “Hmmmms…” that we were expecting TWINS. I had a slight panic attack on the table, immediately overwhelmed with all the additional concerns and possible complications that could come with a twin pregnancy. Tim’s twenty-year-old face was covered in shock, bewilderment, and stunned excitement. I staggered my way off the examining table, and once safely behind the curtain, I began to change out of the napkin gown we ladies wear at the OB, and the fears started to emerge in the form of tears, which gave way to sobs. [Read more…]

http://facesofloss.com/2012/06/5545.html

Filed Under: 1996, 1998, 26 weeks, Multiple loss, Neonatal death, Potter's Syndrome, TTTS, twin to twin transfusion syndrome, Twins
May 26, 2012 by 2 Comments

Agnes

Mom to Richard, born and died April 19, 2012

and

John, born and died April 19, 2012

Wichita, Kansas

I learned I was pregnant after I missed my period January this year. As this being my first pregnancy and we had not been trying, I found myself very anxious, since I didn’t think I was ready. We were having relationship issues and as much as he sounded supportive, I couldn’t help but feel scared. [Read more…]

http://facesofloss.com/2012/05/5399.html

Filed Under: 19 weeks, 2012, Incompetent Cervix, Kansas, Twins
May 25, 2012 by 4 Comments

Lindsey

Mom to Quinton Edward and Owen Scott

Born and passed April 27, 2012

Edinburg, Virginia

Wednesday April 25th, 2012 started out like any other day.  I woke up tired and sore from being pregnant.  We had just returned from our babymoon and that weekend we painted the twins’ nursery.  I was so happy.  I got through my work day picked up pizza for dinner and headed home.  My husband and I ate, and I went to the bathroom for one of my many pee breaks, except this time when I wiped there was blood.  I immediately began to panic.  I told my husband I was bleeding; I tried to call my Mom, no answer.  I became more frantic.  I called the doctor on call, but he was in surgery.  My mom called me back to tell me she was on her way. She arrived in seconds and we headed to the hospital.  That was the longest 30 minutes of my life…a thousand scenarios went through my head, but I tried everything to stay positive. [Read more…]

http://facesofloss.com/2012/05/5368.html

Filed Under: 18 weeks, 2012, Incompetent Cervix, Late Miscarriage, Second trimester loss, Twins, Virginia
May 12, 2012 by 3 Comments

Jen

Mom to Mariah and Juliette

Born and died March 5, 2012

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

My husband and I have been married seven years and through patience, hard work, dreaming, and a bit of luck – we have managed to build a beautiful and fulfilling life together. A couple years ago we decided we were ready to start trying for our family. [Read more…]

http://facesofloss.com/2012/05/5227.html

Filed Under: 20 weeks, 2012, Pennsylvania, pPROM, Second trimester loss, Stillbirth, Twins
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