'I feel so incredibly grateful': Colorado mom and her twins survive rare pregnancy condition
DENVER — When the COVID-19 pandemic hit in the spring of 2020, Courtney and Max Key decided it was a good time to try for a third child.
But when Courtney discovered she would be having twins, she “bawled her eyes out.”
“It was overwhelming,” she recalled. “Our kids were really young; my middle [child] was only eight months old when I got pregnant with twins.” Her oldest, meanwhile, was not even three years old.
The overwhelming surprise soon turned to fear.
“You understand that all twin pregnancies are complicated, but certain twin pregnancies are extra complicated,” Max said. “We fell into a bucket that was somewhere in the middle of that spectrum.”
When Courtney was four months pregnant, she and Max learned that their twin boys — Landon and Connor — had an advanced case of twin-to-twin transfusion syndrome.
“Twin-to-twin transfusion syndrome occurs in identical twins who share a common placenta,” explained Dr. Henry Galan at Children’s Hospital Colorado. Courtney summed it up as “two sacs, one placenta.”
Galan told Rocky Mountain PBS that TTTS occurs in about 1 in 60 twins, and 1 in 4,000 pregnancies. With TTTS, the twins also share a network of blood vessels. When that blood flow is not evenly distributed, one of the twins can give away more blood than it receives, which can lead to organ failure. Conversely, if a twin is receiving too much blood, their heart can be overworked.
“Landon was in severe heart failure,” Courtney explained. “Connor was effectively shrink-wrapped.”
Galan told the parents that without emergency surgery, there was a 100% chance Landon and Connor would not survive. Even with surgery, there was only a 50% chance both boys would live.
Courtney and Max agreed to the emergency surgery which, fortunately, was a huge success.
“It was challenging, but fortunately our outcome was everything we could have hoped for and then some,” Max said.
Courtney was in the hospital for just two days, and although she went into labor at 31 weeks, doctors were able to safely prevent delivery for another five weeks. Landon and Connor were born at 5.5 pounds each, then spent a “few weeks” at the Children’s Hospital Colorado NICU, according to a hospital spokesperson.
“They’ve been little miracle babies,” Courtney said of her twins, who are now 14 months old. “They’re the easiest part of the family; they’re the family MVPs.”
“I feel so incredibly grateful,” she continued. “I think I’m waiting for the other shoe to drop because I feel really lucky. I feel overwhelmed with joy and love.”
Brian Willie is the content production manager at Rocky Mountain PBS. You can reach him at brianwillie@rmpbs.org.
Kyle Cooke is the digital media manager at Rocky Mountain PBS. You can reach him at kylecooke@rmpbs.org.