We learned this morning that the baby we lost Saturday was Olivia.  Her name means “Peace” and “Walks with God” and knowing that she’s enjoying ultimate peace gives us comfort.  As you can imagine we’re grieving today but are thankful that we are together and God is with us.

Ruby and Madison’s ultrasounds looked real good today.  We don’t have any new information on the condition of Madison’s heart.  The doctors are going to call us back later today to discuss our case further and the plan for the days to come.  Our prayer is that Ruby will continue to do well and Madison’s heart will be completely healed.  Please agree in prayer with us.

On Friday, August 28th, we had two appointments.  The first was the ultrasound/Doppler and the second was for the echocardiograms for all three girls.  I was able to travel down here for the weekend after leaving work on Thursday night.  The ultrasounds were the same as Wednesday, that being Ruby and Madison normal (“5”) with Olivia in absent/intermittent reverse flow or “3/4” as we’ve talked before.  We praised God for that good news.

We then went to our scheduled echocardiograms at 1pm and waited for the results and meeting with the surgeon at 5:30pm.   We were both exhausted so we got comfortable and rested.  We knew there had to be a good reason for the echo’s but my gut feeling was that we were meeting with the surgeon as a “wrap up” since we had decided that any surgical option was no longer being considered.  Wrong answer.  What we got neither of us expected.  We learned that Madison had advanced cardiomyopathy, as a result of twin-twin transfusion syndrome.  While Olivia’s Doppler’s and below average growth were major concerns, Madison’s heart was quietly getting sicker.  We had done echo’s when we first arrived and then again a week later and the doctor’s had noted some abnormality in Madison on the second test.  The second abnormal test coupled with the doctor’s knowledge that we weren’t “out of the woods” for TTTS was what necessitated the follow up exam on Friday.   Our surgeon communicated our options with clarity and kindness.  We could re-consider the surgery and face the risk imposed to everyone, Allison included or let “nature take its course” as he put it.  When we left the hospital we both quickly realized that surgery was off the table.  In the previous cases similar to ours, the doctors had been successful in separating the placenta’s but all four sets of twins eventually passed away.  Again, the reason for this is the cord insertions for the babies were too close (<2cm) and there were too many major vessels that were taken out in the process of separating the placenta.    It seemed to us that the benefit of the surgery wouldn’t be there, so taking all the extra risks made no sense at all.  Our choice was expectant waiting.  We went and got some dinner and talked about the implications of the day.  It seemed medically that the doctors felt like we were going to loose two of our three girls and that we were fortunate to have the third be doing so well.  In their minds while they understood our pain, their experience told them we should also have grateful hearts, given that they had seen many other family’s deal with TTTS and lose the whole pregnancy.  We struggled, cried and prayed our way through Friday night.  We told God we believed He was able to heal them all with one touch and asked Him to do it and that we believed he was “working this all out for our good and His glory (Romans 8:28).”

Saturday came and we rose again with heavy hearts.  We had a good breakfast with the Davenports and made plans to go put our feet up and hang out at Barnes and Noble which is 10 minutes from the Davenports’ home.  We stopped and had lunch at Panera and while there, Allison and some severe gastrointestinal pain from restriction (you pregnant ladies know what I mean).  The scary part was while she was dealing with this she saw spots and almost blacked out.  She laid down on a bench but after the symptoms only mildly subsided we decided we better call our doctors.  They suggested we come in so she could get GI relief and they could take a look at the babies and make sure everything was ok.  So we did.  Thankfully one of the doctors from the team that’s been treating us was on the night shift.   Upon viewing the babies through ultrasound he gave us the sad news that he only had two heartbeats.   We had lost one of our girls.  We will find out Monday which one it was for sure, as he said he wanted to consult with his colleagues before making the determination.   Obviously this has all kinds of implications on the pregnancy and we expect to find out more at our appointment on Monday.  While we didn’t expect this, we both felt like we had begun grieving on Friday.  As believers, we believe to be absent from the body here, is to be present with Jesus in heaven and it comforts us to know our little girl is there.  Please pray with us that the other two little girls do well and everything about the pregnancy will be successful and blessed by God.

Just got off a conference call with Allison and the medical team in Cincinnati.  Olivia is moving well, has good amniotic fluid volume and her Doppler is unchanged.  Praise God.  Next appointment will be Friday and I will be back in Cincinnati for it.   Be encouraged, our prayers are making a difference!

There have been so many you that have encouraged us in so many ways.  We are so grateful for all of the generosity, encouragement and love we’ve felt.  We look forward to the opportunity to give back as much we are able to in the months and years to come.  Th Bible says, “The generous soul will be made rich, and he who waters will also be watered himself.”  (Prov. 11:25)  Our prayer is that you are all made rich (in every way) and watered in the dry areas of your life.

The Davenports

Kimmie and Allison

This is Darren, Kimmie, Carsen and Parker Davenport and they have been amazing hosts for us as we’ve been in Cincinnati.  Our friends at Metro Believers Church in Madison all know (and miss) them but we thought it would be fun for the rest of you to meet them as well.  Allison and I first arrived arrived at their home on August 4th, returned on August 11th and Allison has been there ever since.  Along with being such gracious hosts and awesome friends, Kimmie has taken Allison to all of the appointments that have been necessary while I’m here in Madison working.  We’re so fortunate to be able to come to THEIR home after hours at the hospital dealing with the challenges of that particular day, and have it feel like OUR home.  Kimmie truly has the gift of hospitality that has allowed us to feel so comfortable all of the time.  Please pray that they “would be made rich and watered” as they have been such awesome friends!

I just arrived in Madison after a full day in the hospital and the drive home.  Here’s an update from today and some perspective on the road ahead…

The ultrasounds went pretty well.  Ruby and Madison continue to do really well.  Olivia was the same today as she was Saturday, which is a very good thing.  The doctors were encouraged to see that she hadn’t worsened.  Praise God.  Along with the good news today, we made a significant decision to take any surgical option off the table.  The main reasons are:  (1) we’re about to reach 24 weeks which automatically rules out one of the options and (2) even though we would be candidates for the laser procedure to separate the placenta’s of the twins, we fall into a small subset (we’re the 5th of over 500 cases of twins and the first with triplets) where the surgery hasn’t been effective.  It turns out that Olivia and Madison’s umbilical cords each insert into the shared placenta less than two centimeters apart.  The other procedures this group of doctors have done to separate the placenta in twins with the cord insertions so close have not been successful.  With the decision to not do any surgical intervention the choice we’ve made is expectant waiting.  What this means is ultrasounds M,W,F to be sure Olivia continues to hang in there.  If at any point she starts to struggle, Allison will have to go inpatient for monitoring or prepare to deliver.  At 24 weeks they all have a chance to live.  We hit 24 weeks this Wednesday.  At 28 weeks the chance goes up significantly.  Our prayer is to get to at least 30 weeks and get Allison home as soon as possible.  Obviously, we’d love for her to deliver here in Madison.  Each day is crucial and as days turn into weeks that they all stay in the womb, their chance to do well goes up.  We spent some time with the staff neonatologist as well today.  We got to look at some “26 weekers” in the NICU and interact with the nurses as well.  The doctor told us that each day in the womb means at least 3 less days in the NICU.  We’re glad we spent the time getting familiar with this area of the hospital and with the idea of possibly spending some time there.  We both feel like we need to be prepared for what could come our way but with that continue to believe God for the best.

That’s the medical update.  As Christians we choose to see this circumstance through the eyes of our faith (Hebrews 11:1), very similar to when we were trusting God to become pregnant in the first place.  Thank you for believing with us.  God is faithful and we thank Him for the lives He’s knitting together in Allison’s womb right now (Psalm 139:13,14).

We’re enjoying a relaxing Sunday today.  On the heels of last nights good news we have had a chance to relax and reflect a bit on the past days of events.  On Friday when we were in the process of getting the bad news that Olivia was doing worse and deciding what to do.  We had some alone time in the patient room and were praying and telling God how we knew He was with us but needed to really feel His presence in this moment.  We continued to pray and talk until the team (2 doctors and a nurse) came back in.  After more discussion, one of the doctors was called by our “would be” surgeon and left the room.  The nurse was then told to go and get the directions for the surgery center for us.  Once she left this particular physician asked for our hands and began to pray.  He lead us in prayer and closed by looking right at Allison and said “remember they are His babies and He loves them.  Keep praying, this is why its called FAITH!”  Tears welled up in his eyes as he assured us we would continue to be in his prayers.  When we left we knew the Lord had worked through this physician to reassure us that He was right there with us.  What an amazing God we serve!

We spent 3 hours tonight getting ultrasounds done (got to the Davenports at 10:15).  We saw some improvement in Olivia’s Doppler as she went from persistent reverse flow on Friday to absent flow today (think of it numerically as moving from a 1 to a 3 on a scale of 1 to 5, with 5 being the best).  As a result of this improvement, we have taken the surgery off the table for Monday.  Praise God.  We instead will do more ultrasounds on Monday.  Our situation is still very day-to-day.  I will be staying for the appointment on Monday and we will see what happens after that.  We also got weights for the girls tonight:  Ruby – 1lb 6 oz, Madison – 1 lb 5 oz and Olivia 1 lb.  Most of you know today was Allison’s birthday.  We thank God that He gave us the peace (Phil 4: 6-7) to enjoy this awesome day and celebrate Allison.

Thank you all for agreeing with us in prayer.  We cannot overstate how supported we feel.  We love you all.

Today we got some bad news.  Olivia’s ultrasound (Doppler on umbilical cord) went from the improvement we saw Wednesday to persistent reverse flow today.  We were told the prognosis is much worse for her and were scheduled for surgery on Monday.  The decision on what surgery to do or whether or not to do surgery will depend on how Olivia’s doing tomorrow night.  We will be going back to the hospital for ultrasounds and are asking God to completely heal her.  The next couple of days will be spent preparing for the worst but trusting God for the best.  Psalm 34:19 says, “The righteous person faces many troubles, but the Lord comes to the rescue each time.”  We have seen His hand of deliverance many times and are putting our complete trust in Him again.  We love you all.

Hello everyone.  Wow, so much has happened since we last saw or talked to many of you.  With that in mind we will give as many facts as reasonably possible on this initial communication and do our best to provide updates on this site.  First and foremost we want you to get a peek at our little girls – Ruby, Madison and Olivia – as they get closer and closer to arriving in this world.  We thought it would be a great encouragement to you as you’re praying for them to have a name and a face in mind.

Ruby

Madison

Olivia

We just hit the 23 week of pregnancy today.  Since 20 weeks our team of doctors in Madison have decided to involve a team of specialists at Cincinnati Children’s Hospital.  Our doctor’s concern was primarily what is called Twin-Twin Transfusion Syndrome.  We made our first trip to Cincy on Monday August 3rd.  After 8 hours of echo-cardiogram’s, MRI’s and ultrasounds the doctor’s told us we could go home but that they wanted to see us back in 2 weeks.  The following Tuesday, August 11th, we were in for more ultrasounds in Madison and the doctors here decided to send us back to Cincinnati because they were concerned about Olivia.  We were in the car by that afternoon on our way back to Cincy.  After more ultrasounds the doctor’s told us the prognosis for Olivia was not good.  In short her blood flow back from the placenta, didn’t look to be adequate based on the doppler readings that the doctor’s had.  They told us the only thing we could do is have Allison go on full bed rest and even with that this  condition rarely improves.  We decided that night that Allison would stay in Cincinnati and I would return to Madison.  This was an option, only because we are fortunate to have some good friends, who’ve been endlessly accommodating and generous as we walk through this challenge.  The doctors also said, “if you are praying people go home and pray.”  We and, many of you, did and miraculously as of today, Olivia’s condition has improved slightly.  Thank you God!  The plan for today’s appointment was for me to jump on the phone with Allison and be conferenced in with the doctor to give a complete update.  We didn’t need the conference.  It was just Allison and I as she gave me the good news.  Our next appointment is Friday and I will get to be there for it.  Also, it’s Allison’s birthday on Saturday, so we will get to celebrate this weekend together.  Please continue to pray for all 3 girls.  We love you all and draw strength from the ways that you’ve shown us love during the pregnancy.

Many of you have asked for a mailing address where Allison is.  Please use the following:

Kimmi Davenport
Attn:  ALLISON
6406 Birch Creek Drive
Loveland, OH  45140

Welcome to the Clooten family blog!  Check back for updates.