After years of trying for a baby our 7-week scan revealed a ‘1% triplet miracle’ – only for tragedy to strike
A COUPLE who conceived identical triplets at odds of one per cent were devastated when one of their babies died in the womb – to save his two brothers.
Emma, 34, a paramedic, and Lucy, 28, a clinical analyst, met through work four years ago and have their wedding booked for May 25, 2025.
Emma, from Benfleet, Essex, says: “We always knew that we wanted to have a family together one day.”
When they decided to conceive, with Lucy as the birth mother, she initially underwent two attempts at artificial insemination, using donor sperm, which both failed.
She then had one round of IVF, but only one embryo was successfully harvested and fertilised, so when it was implanted they were trying hard not to get their hopes up too much.
However the attempt did take – and at their first scan seven weeks later, there was a surprise in store.
Lucy says: “The scan operator said: ‘I can see two heartbeats. No, hold on, I can see three!’
“We were in total shock. We were told the chances of one egg splitting into three identical babies were literally one per cent, but ours did.”
However, the women were warned that any triplet pregnancy is high risk, with identical babies who are feeding off the same placenta at particular risk.
Lucy initially had scans every two weeks as a precaution, then after 16 weeks, these became weekly.
And at 22 weeks, came some bad news.
One twin – who they had already named Teddy – was growing much bigger than the others, already called Ronnie and Arthur.
This was because of something called twin-to-twin transfusion syndrome – when abnormal blood vessels develop so that one baby (Teddy) receives too much blood and the others (Ronnie and Arthur) receive too little.
This meant the smaller two babies were going into heart failure.
Lucy had to undergo an emergency procedure in which a camera was implanted into her womb so that the abnormal blood vessels were severed.
This was followed by another procedure to give blood transfusions to the two smaller twins in the womb.
Unfortunately Teddy did not survive the procedures and at 23 weeks Lucy and Emma were told that he had passed away.
“It was very upsetting to lose one of our precious babies,” Emma says.
“But we knew that he had died to save his two little brothers, giving them a chance to live.”
We are so grateful to have our two gorgeous sons but we will never forget the one we lost
Emma
The fact that one of the babies had died meant there was a high chance of premature delivery.
At 24 weeks, the abortion limit in the UK, Lucy went into labour and Ronnie and Arthur were born.
Teddy came first, then Arthur, with Ronnie taking a further five hours to arrive at five minutes to midnight.
“For a few hours we wondered if our boys would have different birthdays,” recalls Emma.
The next months were a rollercoaster ride as the babies spent 119 days in the special care baby unit.
‘If one cried, the other one did too’
Lucy says: “Both boys got infections.
“Ronnie had a pulmonary haemorrhage and Arthur had to have heart surgery.
“They certainly kept us on our toes.
“But throughout it all, they comforted each other.
“Wherever possible they were kept in the same cot which seemed to soothe them.
“If one cried, the other one cried.”
Lucy and Emma spent more than £10,000 on their fertility treatment.
They are now due to marry in May 2025 – with Ronnie and Arthur as pageboys.
Lucy says: “Our focus is on the boys – they are a blessing.
“We are so grateful to have our two gorgeous sons but we will never forget the one we lost.
“And because they are all identical, at least we know what Teddy would have looked like, had he survived.”
What is twin-to-twin transfusion syndrome?
ACCORDING to the NHS, TTTS affects identical twins who share a placenta.
“It’s caused by abnormal connecting blood vessels in the twins’ placenta,” the health service says.
“This results in an imbalanced blood flow from one twin (known as the donor) to the other (recipient), leaving one baby with a greater blood volume than the other.”
It affects around 10 to 15 per cent of twins who share a placenta and can have serious consequences.
TAMBA – the Twins and Multiple Births Association, explaining the syndrome, said: “A lack of blood supply can affect the donor twin’s growth so they are smaller than average.
“The recipient twin is usually larger and has a higher blood volume, which can strain their heart as it works harder to cope with the extra blood supply.
“To compensate for the excess blood, the recipient twin often produces a large amount of fluid.
“In contrast, the smaller donor twin can become stuck against the uterus wall with little surrounding fluid.”