When we were writing the obituary for Caiden and Kaylie, we wanted to ask for charitable donations in lieu of flowers. I thought about where donations could be made. The babies had received hats and blankets, which meant a lot to us, so I picked Project Linus. I remembered seeing March of Dimes commercials when I was younger about giving every baby a healthy start, so I decided they would be the other charity. I did not know much about either charity at the time.
When we got home from the hospital, I started to look at the March of Dimes' website to learn more about them. I found out that the annual March for Babies was in just a few weeks and decided to sign up for it. I posted a link on facebook and sent out a few e-mails asking for donations. I spent my idle time planning for the walk. As the walk approached, I worried that once it was over, I would have too much time on my hands for my own good while in the thick of the grieving process, so I contacted the March of Dimes and asked to be connected with the local chapter.
I met with the local chapter and began forming a relationship with the people there. I joined the Family Teams Committee that meets once a month and I have attended, as a guest or volunteer, a number of March of Dimes events. Chris and I were asked to serve as the Ambassador Family for the Nurse of the Year Awards in 2011. Our responsibilities as the Ambassador Family centered around a speech we would give at the event. In preparing our speech, I asked if the March of Dimes was funding any research related to preventing pre-term birth specifically for pregnancy of multiples. The answer was that there was no research currently underway specific to pregnancy of multiples, but that any findings that applied to singleton pregnancies should apply to multiples too. I found out that there was research currently funded in Buffalo, just an hour down the road from us and I was happy to add that to my speech.
The diagnosis from my early delivery was suspected incompetent cervix (IC). Incompetent cervix is just how it sounds: the cervix does not behave as it should and it opens prematurely. After successfully carrying a subsequent pregnancy to term and beyond, and being on Pitocin for 18 hours of labor because my cervix did not want to open, the doctors suggested that IC may not be what caused my pre-term labor and that it was simply caused by "the stress of having twins". While it's comforting to know that I likely do not have IC, "the stress of having twins" doesn't sound like much of a diagnosis to me, especially because people have twins all the time. IC has relatively effective treatments available, but how do you treat "the stress of having twins", other than attempting to prevent a subsequent twin pregnancy? The lack of a diagnosis or even a suspicion as to what went wrong is very disheartening. How do we know that whatever happened then won't happen again? What if we end up pregnant with twins again? Are we doomed to lose them too?
Recently, I looked at the March of Dimes prematurity research page. This page summarizes some of the research that they are funding. I was surprised and thrilled to find that they are funding research for uterine stretching (commonly found in pregnancies of multiples and pregnancies with excess amniotic fluid). This research looks at the tie between uterine stretching and pre-term labor. If they find a link, further research can look for a way to predict and prevent the pre-term labor.
This research gives me hope. If a link is found between uterine stretching and pre-term labor, I would be much more comfortable believing that was the cause of my pre-term labor than "the stress of having twins". It also gives me a diagnosis, which would provide some comfort and make it easier to explain to others. (Saying that I lost twins because my body couldn't handle "the stress" makes me feel inferior when women give birth to healthy twins all the time. - NOTE that I now know of a number of women who have lost twins in similar situations, but those cases are clearly not as public as the women who give birth to healthy twins.)
In addition, if a link is found between uterine stretching and pre-term labor, new research can begin to determine preventative measures. These preventative measures may or may not be found during my childbearing years, but even if not, it will help spare others from the grief of losing a twin pregnancy to pre-term labor.
I have been a strong supporter of the March of Dimes since coming home from the hospital. I believe in all the work they do. Being involved in their mission has given me comfort and hope since the beginning. But now, with the new research underway, my hope and optimism is stronger than ever.
*Thank you for reading my post. Please consider making a donation to the March of Dimes through the banner to the right to help fund all the important research they do, including the study mentioned in this post. Find out more about their research here: http://www.marchofdimes.com/research/prematurity_grants.html.
