Identical twin brothers in Washington will have an anticipated four month window between birth dates, according to ABC News. Nick and Holli Gorveatt welcomed their son Link on Sept. 29, and anxiously await the birth of his identical twin brother, to be named Logan, who has a due date four months later.
The twins were suffering from an in utero condition called twin-to-twin syndrome, in which one twin draws blood from the other twin. This can leave both twins sick, where one bloats and the other becomes weak without the necessary blood supply.
"It's very surreal to be post-partum and pre-partum," Holli said.
"He will be bigger [than his brother], growth in utero is so much better than growth in the [neonatal intensive care unit]," said Dr. Martin Walker, director of fetal medicine at Evergreen Health Medical Center, speaking of Logan, the twin not yet born.
"It's rather like having two plants growing out of the same pot," explained Walker, according to KOMO News. "They send their umbilical cords down into the placenta, the 'roots' go out through the placenta, these are the blood vessels. And where they touch each other, they join together and they allow blood to flow freely between babies. All identical twins sharing a placenta have these connections. About 20 percent of them get into a situation where one baby gives the other baby more blood than he gets back. So you have a situation where one baby becomes anemic and weak from blood loss and the other baby becomes over stuffed with blood, bloated and goes into heart failure."
Walker performed the surgery in utero, separating the twin's blood vessels and saving their lives. With the separation, Link was born and Logan is staying put until he is ready. Link was born at just 23 weeks, but Logan is thriving in utero.
"So far so good," Walker said of the twins' mom. "She remains pregnant just about a week and a half since that procedure. And it's a real big week and a half for that baby that's in there. During that time the baby has grown, looks healthy."
"Logan's good, so he's growing a lot and he's just kicking. He's got fluid, he can move around," said Holli Gorveatt, according to ABC 7. "He was stuck before."
