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Wednesday, June 15, 2011

What are MoMo twins?

When John and I first saw 2 heartbeats, we of course scoured the Internet about the different types of identical twins. When we came across all of the information for Monochorionic/Monoamniotic twins, we thought for sure that ours would not be that. It is pretty rare, so what are the odds right? Waiting the 2 weeks to see the specialist for a diagnosis seemed to take forever! Our specialist confirmed at that appointment that they were indeed mono/mono or MoMo for short.
More about twins....
There are two different types of twins, identical and fraternal. Fraternal twins occur when two different eggs are fertilized. Identical twins occur when one egg is fertilized and then splits. Identical twins are always the same sex and they share 100% of their genes. There are many different types of identical twins too. Our MoMo twins share the same placenta and the same amniotic sac. This is a rare occurrence that occurs in less than 1% of twin pregnancies. These type of twins are at a great risk of health complications due to umbilical cords being so close in proximity inside the one amniotic sac. It is easy for the umbilical cords to become tangled or compressed therefore cutting off the nutrients and food supply necessary for survival. The survival rate for MoMo twins is approximately 50%. By going in-patient it improves our odds significantly as they will be monitored several times a day. The only way to "fix" these problems with the cords is to take them. So, we already know that we will have our babies early. Our goal is to get to 32 weeks!

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