By Filipa Gaspar via SWNS
Cute pictures show “miracle” twins given just 10 percent chance of survival – who are now thriving.
Sally Kynoch, 29, was more than halfway through her pregnancy with Kelsea and Willow when was taken to Glasgow Children’s Hospital.
Doctors confirmed her babies had stage 4 twin-to-twin transfusion syndrome (TTTS) – the last stage before death.
The rare pregnancy condition occurs in pregnancies where twins share one placenta and a network of blood vessels that supply oxygen and nutrients essential for development in the womb.
Sometimes the vessel connections within the placenta are not evenly dispensed and there is an imbalance in the blood exchange between the twins.
Usually, the recipient twin receives too much blood and is susceptible to overwork of the heart and can lead to cardiac failure.
Sally was told the babies were extremely poorly and were both going into heart failure.
On February 2024 at 37 weeks, Kelsea and Willow were born with each just over 3 pounds.
Sally, of Elgin, Scotland, says seven months on Kelsea and Willow are thriving.
The family are now fundraising for Glasgow Children’s Hospital Charity through a Tractor Run.
Sally said: “I had such a crazy pregnancy, to be honest I am still trying to get my head round it.
“It was such a scary time, and we are forever grateful for everything that was done to save our twins.
“There was no fluid around twin 2 and no bladder could be found – she was really small.
“Twin 1 had a lot of fluid around her and was noticeably much larger than her sister.”
Sally explained that after discussing possible options with her doctor they decided to go ahead with laser ablation – a treatment so that both babies receive a more equal supply of blood.
“Without any treatment there was only a 10 percent chance of both twins surviving,” she said.
“After laser ablation there was a 75 percent chance of one twin surviving, 45 percent of both surviving – thankfully, the laser ablation was successful.
“The doctor that did the surgery in Glasgow was the only doctor skilled to do it in the whole of Scotland – we were really lucky.
“We were there in the neck of time – she decided to do the surgery on the same day that she had seen us because she just feared that waiting any longer was just going to be too late for them.
“There is only 400 cases of it in the UK every year.”
She added: “They were breathing on their own, doing just fine and we stayed in the neonatal in for a month – now they are almost 8 months old and they are both thriving.
“The staff were amazing and the support and care the babies and us received was amazing during our time there.”
After experiencing such ‘great care’ from doctors and the rest of the Fetal Medicine team – Sally and her family wanted to express their thanks and held a charity Tractor Run.
“43 tractors attended and loads of people came to watch and take photos and videos.
“We really wanted to donate some money to go towards the Fetal Medicine – where the laser ablation was done. We also raised money for the neonatal unit in Aberdeen.”
They were able to raise over £4,000 overall for both charities.
Sally wants to keep sharing her story to raise more awareness on the condition and help more future families who are going through the same.
She said: “A lot of other stories that I had read at the time were not successful so it did not give me much hope at all.
“If I can give families some positivity that is great.”
