"Miracles do happen; we've got 3 to prove that."
After a long two-year struggle trying to fall pregnant, Nicole and Todd Ryman turned to IVF treatment, where they finally received the gift of identical twins. At 15 weeks, the first time parents-to-be had their dreams come crashing down when they were told that their babies had Twin-to-Twin Transfusion Syndrome (a complication causing disproportionate blood supply between the twins). Neither of their boys, Lincoln and Byron, were expected to survive. “We were asked if we would like to terminate both babies, and start again or ligate the smaller one, which was Lincoln....and that was just not an option. How could I? I couldn’t actually live every day knowing that I had given up on a life.” In an attempt to save the twins’ lives, the couple decided to have Dr Danny Challis perform laser surgery on the placenta, to separate the blood vessels between the boys. The surgery meant that if Lincoln, who was much smaller, died, Byron would have a better chance at survival. At 29 weeks, it was decided that the boys needed to be delivered, if there was a chance of both boys surviving. Both of the boys were born very small, Byron at 1.5kg and Lincoln only 530g. “All I wanted was a cry out of Lincoln because he was little and I knew the chance of survival was slim – but I heard a little kitten cry out of him…and it was my goal to hear that, and I did.” The boys are now healthy eight year olds, and since then, Nicole and Todd have welcomed another addition to the family, Georgia, who was born weighing 4.2kg – more than twice the boys’ birth weights combined! “I take my hat off to The Royal Hospital for Women, and I thank them from the bottom of my heart, for saving my boys and for caring for them so well and making me feel like a part of the process. It is a really beautiful place to feel nurtured and cared for.”
