Jillian Wiseman recently wrote the following moving story to encourage fellow members of the Massachusetts Mothers of Twins to give blood at their first-ever blood drive on January 27, 2008 in Burlington, Massachusetts. The drive saw 56 people through the door and 51 lifesaving units collected. Plans are in the works to include information about the drive in the National Mothers of Twins Association newsletter.

On September 10, 2005, I gave birth at 31 weeks to Evie Rose, weighing in at 2 ½ pounds, and Zachary Jonah, weighing in at 3 ½ pounds. I had been on strict bed rest for two and a half weeks prior, knowing I was going to give birth soon and that the kids were going to be in the hospital for awhile – but no matter how much I prepared myself, I could never anticipate what was to come.

I gave birth at Beverly Hospital and was very lucky that both children were able to stay at their Special Care Nursery and did not have to be transferred to Beth Israel’s NICU as planned. No respirators were required. Our kids were small and just needed to grow.

Every day the doctor updated us on the tests they ran and what they looked for. One specific test was to check each baby’s hematocrit levels weekly. They explained that hematocrit levels were expected to drop every week until week 37 and then rise again. When a baby is in the womb, hemtocrit levels going down and then up is no danger – out of the womb is a different story.

Both Evie and Zach’s hematocrit levels were going down as expected, but because Evie was so tiny to begin with, economies of scale were not in her favor. The doctor told us that Evie’s levels were going to reach a dangerous level before she reached 37 weeks and that they’d like her to have a blood transfusion.

A blood transfusion? My husband and I are far from medical experts and to this point I wasn’t into reading books on twin pregnancy or what to expect because honestly, it was scary. What was going to happen was going to happen. I had no idea that this occurred in low birth weight babies and, though it is more common than one would expect, it’s still a scary process.

Thank goodness the blood transfusion was a success and we were lucky that she did not need any more transfusions. We were in great hands and, to this day, I am so thankful to all the doctors and nurses who were there for us and to modern medicine in general.

I wanted to give back however I could. It was someone’s volunteered blood that literally saved my daughter’s life. And you know what? After speaking to many other moms in our group who gave birth to premature low birth weight twins, I learned that some mothers had to experience each baby having five or six blood transfusions. Imagine that! Ten to twelve pints of blood per set of twins.

The first and last time I gave blood was in the early nineties and that was for my own surgery. I remember how lethargic I felt and how it took me a full day to recoup. I never wanted to attempt to do that again and risk feeling that way until I saw my daughter lying on that bed with all those tubes.

There are people who can give that don’t for whatever reason. I used to be one of those people. My twins are now more than two years old and I’ve donated several pints thus far, feel just fine after I give, and try to give whenever possible. However, only can give so much. Therefore, I am asking you to join me in what I hope to be our first annual Massachusetts Mothers of Twins Association Founding Chapter’s Blood Drive. This blood drive is open to everyone eligible to donate – friends and family are, of course, welcome!

Jillian Wiseman

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Evie prepped and ready for her blood transfusion	Evie during her first week
Zach during the first couple of days	Week 5. Zach and Evie finally out of the incubators, sharing a crib. This was their first day together again and perfectly natural
One year later!

Red Cross blood donors help patients just like Zach and Evie in cities and towns throughout New England and across the United States. Please….give blood.

Patient Stories