TTTS twins go home after short NICU stay

By Maureen Gilmer, IU Health senior writer, mgilmer1@iuhealth.org

After just 2½ weeks in the NICU at Riley Hospital for Children, twins Hayleigh and Rachel Koehn were cleared to go home last week.

The twins were delivered six weeks prematurely at Riley’s Maternity Tower last month. They had been diagnosed in utero with twin-to-twin transfusion syndrome, a rare, life-threatening condition that required the first fetal surgery of its kind in Indiana.

TTTS can affect identical twins or other multiples who share one placenta and a network of blood vessels that supply oxygen and nutrients for development in the womb. It results in an imbalance in blood flow to both babies.

Riley’s fetal surgery team, led by Dr. Hiba Mustafa, performed laser surgery on the twins in the womb in November.

Now the girls are keeping their parents, Rebekah and Daniel Koehn, hopping at home in Veedersburg, Indiana, and getting to know the family dog, Maverick, who is no longer the baby of the house.

Asked how it feels to be home with their girls, Rebekah said: “Exhausting in the best way. We love having them home and being the sole caretakers of them. For me, I feel like an actual parent since they aren’t in the NICU anymore. Now to just get the nights figured out, so we can get better sleep.”