Shelley Widhalm

The Surveyor

Beca Wild hopes to make it to the 24-week mark with her identical twin boys—there’s nothing unusual in that except the boys have twin-to-twin transfusion syndrome.

Wild, who lives in Loveland, has a rare, serious condition where identical twins share a placenta, resulting in uneven blood flow between the babies and, if left untreated, the babies likely will not survive. She and her husband, Cody, a third-grade teacher at Berthoud’s Ivy Stockwell Elementary School, have a due date of May 28. They have two other children, Mackenzy, 8, and Reece, 5.

“The situation is scary to us because we are essentially a ticking time bomb,” Wild said. “We are praying that we can get to the 24-week mark but ideally much longer than that. It is hard to know you have tiny babies growing inside of your womb that you can’t help.”

Wild’s sister, Amanda Smith, organized a GoFundMe fundraiser of $50,000 to help with the Wilds’ medical bills and living expenses. So far, $7,910 has been raised.

“The amount is already astronomical due to the specialist appointments, surgery and ER (emergency room) visits. The longer the pregnancy progresses, the more medical attention will be needed,” Smith said in the fundraiser write-up for Wild Baby Boys, Beca and Cody Wild. “These little boys have fought so hard, and we are going to fight with them.”

The fundraiser serves as a reminder of the good around the family, she said.

“Every time someone donates or comments, it brings hope to us. It reminds our family how many people are rooting for our little boys,” Wild said. “The fundraiser and Facebook posts are glimmers of hope for all of us. I thank my lucky stars every time someone donates, comments, prays or brings us meals and food.”

The Wilds found out they were having twins at Wild’s nine-week appointment. At her 16- week appointment, her doctor said her twins were monochorionic-diamniotic, or mono-di, and shared a placenta but with their own amniotic sacs. Her doctor sent her to a maternal-fetal specialist in Denver, and at 17 weeks, she learned she was in stage 2 or stage 3 of twin-to-twin transfusion syndrome, or TTTS, with uneven blood flow between the babies.

“Finding out that our boys had this condition was very overwhelming and terrifying,” Wild said, explaining that with TTTS, there is a donor baby that gives blood and nutrients to the recipient baby. “Baby A (named Ryder) is our recipient baby. He was receiving excess nutrients and blood, swimming in his own Olympic-size pool of amniotic fluid, and his heart was working harder. Baby B (Brody) is our donor baby. He was essentially Saran-wrapped in his amniotic sac and severely dehydrated.”

Wild went to Seattle, Washington, for a fetal laser ablation surgery Dec. 23 to sever the ties in the placenta, so that each baby could get an equal amount of blood and nutrients. She was discharged the next day, but she started bleeding and had to go to the local ER on Christmas Day. She learned from her surgeon in Washington she had a normal reaction from developing a clot outside the womb during surgery. She returned to bed rest, but on new year’s eve, she started to bleed again and experienced cramps, sending her back to the ER.

“I was in the ER lying on the table when I felt my water break. It was heartbreaking,” Wild said, adding that she ended up not delivering.

Wild found out during her most recent prenatal appointment that Baby B has amniotic fluid and strong stats, and Baby A has a strong heartbeat and stats but because of water breaking in his sac has no amniotic fluid.

“He will be our biggest worry because we will have no way to know how and if his lungs are developing,” Wild said.

When Wild reaches 24 weeks, she will be admitted to the Presbyterian St. Luke’s Medical Center in Denver, where she will be monitored until her delivery. Before going on bed rest, she was an intake coordinator for Banner MD Anderson Cancer Center at McKee Medical Center in Loveland. She would love to stay home to raise her sons, but because of the cost of living and the expense of bills, she will have to return to work.

“My sister, Amanda, is a caring individual,” Wild said. “She has been overjoyed since we told her about her nephews. She is also very strong in her faith. It was no surprise to us that she would start a fundraiser to help us see the light in a dark situation.”