My name is Sydney Box, Samantha Taylor’s sister and I’m Susie Thomas, Samantha’s mom. Samantha has tried for a year to get pregnant and in July of this year she found out she was blessed with TWINS! We all were so surprised and so very excited. That within itself is a lot, but then she found out her twin pregnancy was mono di twins. This means they are in their own sacs but only in one placenta. Twin pregnancies are high risk themselves and then this type of twin pregnancy is a higher risk twin pregnancy. Her OB reviewed the complications and what to expect with hopes she would not get any of them and her pregnancy would carry on as healthy and asymptomatic as possible. Life carried on and she and my brother-in-law found out they were expecting 2 identical boys! We were all excited. For the ones that know us you know they have an amazing 3 year old daughter who is so calm, caring and easy to parent. You know where this is going, we all thought God was so funny catching her up with chaos giving her two twin BOYS! Well, unfortunately for my sister, at 15 weeks her MFM (maternal fetal medicine) doctor noticed her babies were in distress with TTTS (twin to twin transfusion syndrome) and was immediately referred to a MFM doctor at the University of Miami at Jackson Memorial. She was given an appointment immediately with surgery scheduled for the next day. God is so in our story and guiding everything as when she got there the doctor said he did feel she could be headed to TTTS and TAPS, 2 of the 3 concerns with these type of twin pregnancies, BUT was not to the stage of needing surgery as of yet. She would have to be closely monitored by him and her Ft Myers MFM and see if she progresses. Fast forward to today, at her last Ft Myers MFM appointment her Dr stopped short of completing her ultrasound and said she needed to get to Miami TOMORROW. Baby A was in stage 4 heart failure with severe fluid in his chest and baby B was severely anemic. This happens in 5 percent of these types of twins, 5 PERCENT. And hers went from wow look how good they are doing to two weeks later we are at this point! We were shocked and overwhelmed but heading to Miami for help. When she got her exam they said she was at stage 4 and both babies were very sick and close to demise. They also saw her membranes were disconnected on each side. At this point they were told her Dr, the only surgeon that could help, was in CA on vacation. They were dumbfounded and didn’t know where to turn and this Dr, the associate, said these babies did not have much time before stage 5 which is death. Jumping ahead again as it was 24 hours of suggestions and research praying the babies were hanging in there, she ended up with Dr Quintero back in Miami Florida. The associate did bring his name up but advised he was “private”. At this point she didn’t understand what that meant but knew she had to get there to try and save her babies. Again fast forward and the Dr let her know she needed immediate surgery if the boys did not die prior to them getting her in and out of surgery. Also he let her know that her situation and pregnancy was very complicated and with the membrane tears and many other things he was not sure if the surgery would be a success or not but this was the only hope. And she found out the “private” part meant you pay upfront as they do not take insurance. Several credit cards later they headed to the OR. They were told it would take an hour to an hour and a half. 3+ hours later…the babies were still ALIVE and my sister was doing good! BUT there were many complications which is why it took so long and a long road ahead due to her membranes, a tear found in her membrane, blood in the placenta and INFECTION. We are to today. The doctor says he can’t believe her case and is even using it as a case study and it’s a miracle all is still going. He even had to talk to her about, after all of this, terminating her pregnancy to save her own life. With all of this, the babies are still going strong! My sister is still in the hospital on very strong, safe antibiotics and the doctor says we need all the prayers we can get and that’s all he can say and that we go day to day. With all of this, she is in Wellington away from her daughter. They can’t work right now. Stressing over her babies, finances and her life. We have so many prayer warriors fighting that battle for her and I’m starting this to fight the financial battle. Everyday she gets an ultrasound to see if her boys still have heart beats and The Dr says we need to get them to 29 weeks, if possible due to how sick they were . Then he follows it up with this is a Hope and a prayer due to all the odds against her. Please help us help them as the financial burden will be significant and we don’t even know what the outcome is going to be.

All of your donations will be given directly to Samantha and Devin to cover the specialists cost, their medical bills, any expenses while in the hospital and to cover their bills while they are out of work. I, Susie Thomas, started this GoFundMe to help Samantha and Devin financially during this unexpected medical emergency. Thank you all for all of your help.