The amazing Jennika Coleman with her identical twin boys Josiah and Malachi (3). She is also mother to Christopher (12). With her first pregnancy, she was young, single mom and did everything her doctor told her to do without much say in her birth experience. She was able to have a vaginal delivery and breastfed for 8 months. Her second pregnancy was completely different and she was able to advocate for herself and her babies. When she learned she was having twins, she was told that she was carrying Monochorionic-Diamniotic "MoDi" twins which carried a lot of risks. She was scared but appreciated the information. She learned at her next appointment just 4 weeks later that her boys had Stage III Twin to Twin Transfusion Syndrome (TTTS) and she was rushed from Hawaii where her husband was stationed (Active Duty Air Force) to California for laser ablation surgery. After waiting the first 24 hours to see if her boys would survive the surgery, it was deemed successful. She had a cerclage placed due to cervical shortening and was able to return to Hawaii. The remainder of her pregnancy went well other than the fact that her providers were adamant about delivering via cesarean. She didn't feel it was necessary and fought to have a vaginal birth. She was able to deliver her boys vaginally without complication at 37 weeks, 1 day after cerclage removal and induction. Her boys were a healthy weight and able to come home with her. Jennika tried to tandem nurse but found it extremely painful so she pumped exclusively and supplemented with formula for their first 7 months. Jennika chose to participate because there isn't enough education or knowledge of Twin to Twin Transfusion Syndrome. She says, "There is nothing like learning your babies are in trouble when four weeks prior, you never knew that thing existed. I want people to know this exists and I want there to be more funding and research so that people don't have stories that are so different from my own."
MoDi