Right from the Start: The Elliott Twins

Shana and Chad Elliott had difficulties getting pregnant, so when they saw two heartbeats on their 9 week ultrasound, they were overjoyed by their double blessing. At 18.5 weeks of gestation, Shana went in for what was thought to be a routine 19-week ultrasound. Sensing something was terribly wrong, Shana’s College Station-based OB/GYN, immediately directed the family to Houston and Texas Children’s Fetal Center.

The following day, Texas Children’s Fetal Center formally diagnosed the Elliott twins with stage III twin-twin transfusion syndrome (TTTS), a complication seen in approximately 10-15% of twins who share a common placenta where there is unbalanced blood flow from one twin to the other. If left untreated, pregnancy loss may occur from lack of adequate blood flow to the donor, too much flow to the recipient or maternal complications associated with the excess fluid accumulation.

By 2 p.m. that day, Shana was in surgery to correct this grave situation for her daughters. Texas Children’s Fetal Center was able to surgically correct the imbalance in utero using fetoscopic laser photocoagulation. This surgical procedure uses a small camera to locate the abnormal blood vessel connections and treat the problem by sealing the abnormal connections using laser energy.

Nearly three months later, Annabelle and Andie Elliott were born at 32 weeks at Texas Children’s Hospital. Annabelle weighed 4 pounds, 2 ounces, and Andie weighed 1 pound, 9 ounces. Despite their small size at birth, the Elliott twins were strong and healthy. In fact, they just celebrated their fifth birthday -- quite a milestone for these miracle girls.