special feature
photo courtesy of jessica gall photography
conjoined at birth: the story of twins' amazing separation
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Breanna and Blake were just two ordinary parents excited to be adding to their family. They quickly found out that not only were they expecting, but Breanna was pregnant with twins! However, the surprises didn’t stop there. At nine weeks gestation, an ultrasound revealed that their two babies might be conjoined twins. Breanna and Blake were then referred to Midwest Fetal Care Center in Minneapolis, Minnesota, where they received the most advanced, comprehensive medical care -- all in one location. “Being conjoined is rare, extraordinarily rare. But to be conjoined like this is not something we could even calculate,” described Dr. Joseph Lillegard, MD, PhD, pediatric surgeon at Children’s Minnesota. When asked how she felt during her pregnancy, Breanna said, "being pregnant in a special circumstance, you feel very vulnerable. And everywhere you go, you feel like people are looking at you and wondering how you are holding it together. They [the Midwest Fetal Care Center] just treated us like people [with a confidence of] 'we have this' and 'don't worry about it because we're going to take care of it'." In January 2019, Breanna gave birth to their twin girls --- Emersynn and Ellerie --- at 35+ weeks at The Mother Baby Center in Minneapolis. They went home with the twins knowing they would soon return to Children’s Minnesota for the next step: surgery to separate the twins. Before Surgery At seven months old, Emersynn and Ellerie went to Children's Minnesota for their separation surgery with Dr. Lillegard and a broad team of pediatric specialists. Before surgery, Blake explained a moment he and his wife will never forget. “I remember looking at Dr. Lillegard and she [Breanna] looked at Lillegard and said, ‘You got this’ and he looked at her and said, ‘I got this.’” The twins were wheeled away from their parents very early in the morning, leaving them in the waiting room nervous and scared.
special editorial submitted by friends steward partner midwest fetal care center 48 connexions
“What scared us the most is all the unknowns. Not knowing if you’re going… if you’re going to take both babies home, not knowing if you’re
