On to Cincinnati.

May 6th
We spent our 3rd wedding anniversary driving to Cincinnati, not exactly romantic, but for a good purpose. We were very worried, but hopeful our babies would be taken care of by the doctors recommended to us. It took us 9 hours, with lots of potty breaks : ) The drive through Virginia and West Virginia was very pretty, and the weather was great.

The hospital helped us with hotel reservations at a discounted rate at a very nice place just a couple of blocks from the hospital. We checked in, got some dinner, and some rest before a very long day of testing.

http://www.fetalcarecenter.org/fetal-surgery/ttts/surgery-ttts.htm

May 7th
Our first appointment was at 6:45 Wednesday morning! I had an MRI on my belly which was not too bad. Next was an ultrasound to look at the anatomy of the babies, and take lots of measurements. It took two technicians 3 hours to get all the information they needed (several potty breaks were needed here too!). The last test was an Echocardiogram to look at the babies hearts, and the blood flow in the umbilical cords. This took another 2 1/2 hours - whew! I think it took so long because there are two babies, and because Baby A can move around so much it's hard to get readings, on the other hand, Baby B is so scrunched, they have a hard time getting a good look at everything.

We finally met with Dr. Livingston at 4:30 and he presented us with all of the test results from the day. He had a presentation with over 1500 images from the MRI and the ultrasounds - pretty amazing when you think how long you normally have to wait for "test results." He was very thorough in his discussion with us, and presented us with all possible scenarios. The meeting was very emotional, and the babies were in worse shape than we had realized. Baby A, the recipient, already had a thickened heart, and was struggling to handle the extra blood volume. Baby B, the donor, was 30% smaller than Baby A, and the growth of its body was being compromised so as not to impact brain development. Putting all of these things together, the doctor suggested that we proceed with the laser surgery. We agreed.