TTTS Triplet Parents Reflect on their Daughters’ Surgery and Birth

TTTS Triplet Parents Reflect on their Daughters’ Surgery and Birth

Performing surgery on triplets is more complex than on twins. In Tiffini’s case, there were two placentas: Hannah had one placenta all to herself, while Sophia and Isabella were sharing the other placenta, albeit unequally. Sophia and Isabella were affected by TTTS when the volume of blood flow across the connecting blood vessels between them became uneven, with Isabella getting too much and Sophia getting too little.

read more
Charlotte: Surviving a Fetal Omphalocele and Finding Silver Linings

Charlotte: Surviving a Fetal Omphalocele and Finding Silver Linings

When Charlotte first received an omphalocele diagnosis, her parents didn’t know it’s severity. After one of the longest months of their lives, they got some good news. Maternal fetal medicine specialists at the Colorado Fetal Care Center diagnosed Charlotte with an isolated omphalocele, meaning a small part of her intestine was growing outside her abdomen but it wasn’t affecting other organs.

read more

Fetal Surgery for Spina Bifida: Jaxyn’s Story

Fetal surgery for spina bifida is improving outcomes. The fetal surgeons at Cincinnati Children's Fetal Care Center, who have extensive experience and innovative intervention therapies to help treat spina bifida in utero, recently shared this story of hope with the...

read more
Fetomaternal Alloimmunization: Alexandra’s Story

Fetomaternal Alloimmunization: Alexandra’s Story

I was diagnosed with fetomaternal alloimmunization, a condition in which a mother’s body creates antibodies against a fetus’ blood antigens. This diagnosis crushed us. My husband and I wanted a lot of children, and now we were left wondering whether we could even have a second.

read more
Liam: Fetal Surgery for Myelomeningocele (MMC) Spina Bifida Repair

Liam: Fetal Surgery for Myelomeningocele (MMC) Spina Bifida Repair

“The doctor came in and handed me a box of tissues,” Katie recalls. “She was saying something about an abnormal pregnancy, shunts, abnormalities of the left leg, club foot. I was in complete shock at that point, and I couldn’t really make out what she was saying because it felt like time was suspended.”

In a span of two hours, their lives had been turned upside down.

read more
How Mono-Mono Twins Overcame Incredible Hurdles

How Mono-Mono Twins Overcame Incredible Hurdles

When Beth Kanemoto was pregnant with identical twins Kai and Klay, it felt like every two weeks she received more bad news. First, they learned the pregnancy was high risk. Initially, doctors thought the twins might be conjoined, but they soon learned that instead, Klay and Kai were considered mono-mono twins, meaning that they shared just one amniotic sac with no barrier between them.

read more
Birth Defect Diagnosis: Understanding Your Options

Birth Defect Diagnosis: Understanding Your Options

When parents learn that their baby has a birth defect, they experience emotions like confusion, blame, sadness and worry.

As a fetal-pediatric surgeon in the Cincinnati Children’s Fetal Care Center, I encounter families who have just learned that they’re expecting a baby with a birth defect and we’re their next stop….

read more
Advocacy from Anguish: Bethany Weathersby’s Story

Advocacy from Anguish: Bethany Weathersby’s Story

After a diagnosis of maternal fetal alloimmunization and losing baby Lucy to hemolytic disease of the fetus and newborn (HDFN), Bethany took action. She made it her mission to ensure that other mothers diagnosed with maternal alloimmunization had education about the risks of the disease and knew the steps for proper medical care and treatment so that their babies could survive HDFN.

read more
Exercise During and After Pregnancy: The Do’s and Don’t’s

Exercise During and After Pregnancy: The Do’s and Don’t’s

Exercising and staying active while pregnant is one of the best things you can do for you and your baby during your pregnancy. If you have a normal, healthy pregnancy and have been cleared by your health care professional, it is recommended that pregnant women get 30 minutes of exercise at least 5 times a week.

read more