Myself and Steve Dury will be undertaking a mammoth task of cycling 120 Miles in one day in July to help raise money for the Twins and Multiple Births Association (Tamba).
My reason for doing this is my wife and I recently had some bad news, at 22 weeks our unborn twins where suffering from a little known condition called 'Twin to Twin Transfusion Syndrome', TTTS for short, a potentially life threatening condition for unborn identical twins. My wife and I had to make a very difficult decision from what wasn't a very good prognosis from the start; Do nothing, 90% chance of both twins dying, terminate one of the babies giving the other a better chance for survival, or undergo Laser treatment to treat the condition which could result in 40% chance of both surviving, 40% chance of only 1 surviving and a 20% chance of both dying. Not good odds however you look at it. We had 30 mins to decide what to do, and elected the laser treatment as the only viable option. My wife at the time of writing this is 27 weeks pregnant and both babies appear to none the worse for their ordeal, although one is now quite a bit smaller than the other (a side effect of the condition). We are not out of the woods by a long stretch and until both twins are at home neither my wife nor I are getting complacent.
The condition affects between 5 and 25% of all identical twin pregnancies and Laser treatment is currently not available anywhere is Wales. The nearest place offering the Laser treatment to my home is in Bristol at St. Michaels Hospital and there are currently only 5 places in the uk offering this treatment.
My wife and I had a happy ending. We now have 2 baby girls, who we've named Charlotte and Gabrielle. They are as of 15/07/2010 24 weeks old. They where born 11 weeks premature, but don't be fooled, they may be small, but their lungs are perfectly formed. If you wish to contact me for advice during a difficult period if you are also suffering with TTTS, please email me at devilsinthedetail@live.co.uk.
The Twins and Multiple Births Association (Tamba) is a charity set up by parents of twins, triplets and higher multiples and interested professionals. It is the only UK wide organisation that directly helps tens of thousands of parents of twins, triplets and more and professionals to meet the unique challenges that multiple birth families face.
Tamba wants all families with twins, triplets and more to share the same opportunities as other families, so they can enjoy their unique experiences to the full. Membership is open to all those involved in the care of twins, triplets and more. Over 79% of midwives encourage parents to join.
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