The Thomas Merkord Story

Thomas was born at 32 ½ weeks on October 19, 2002, 3 lbs 15 ½ oz; 16 /12 inches long. Thomas is a healthy boy today because of modern medicine. If he had been conceived only a few years earlier he would not have survived.

Thomas was an identical triplet, with his brothers being conjoined twins. The twins had no chance of survival due to a malformed heart, but they were threatening the third baby’s life through a condition called Twin to Twin Transfusion Syndrome. As a result we made the tough decision to have surgery in San Francisco that would stop the sharing of blood and attempt to save Thomas. We had full knowledge that the twins would not survive the procedure.

Many weeks later an ultrasound showed Thomas had Amniotic Band Syndrome. He had a band wrapped tightly around his left leg. His foot was VERY swollen. We returned to San Francisco for surgery to save his foot. The surgery for the band was performed under general anesthesia. Thomas was also put to sleep. It was done with the use of ultrasound. A large incision was made in my abdomen to allow for maneuverability of my uterus. The incisions in the uterus itself were tiny, allowing for a small camera and the other instruments. The band itself was so tight that they actually had to cut Thomas’s leg across the band to get it to release. There was minimal bleeding on Thomas’s part, but I had a large amount that was discovered later in ultrasound as a large blood clot. On the fifth day after surgery I suddenly began gushing blood and they did everything they could to keep me from going into labor. I was only 26 weeks. They decided later that it was residual blood from the surgery that finally made it’s was out.

The risks of fetal surgery are huge, of course. Since this was my second surgery on Thomas, my water did break and I was in the hospital on bed rest for 2 months until he was born. I was lucky. Most people will go into labor within days of their water breaking. They were able to stop mine and hold it off for another 6 weeks; a much healthier age for a preemie! They were prepared for that possibility, though. I had already been given the steroids to help Thomas’s lungs develop. We were willing to risk labor, though, to try to save his foot. That risk paid off.

Thomas foot was swollen, but healthy. He also has a band around his left wrist which is minor and hasn’t been a issue. Thomas had plastic surgery, Z-plasty, Dec 19, 2002 to remove remaining scar tissue around his ankle. Today, Thomas’s left foot is growing slower than the right and is 1 ½ shoe sizes smaller. His leg is also shorter than the right. If the growth continues to lag, surgery might be considered to allow his left leg to catch up with the right.

As far as I understand, this was the first amniotic band release done in San Francisco. Obviously not a common procedure. Probably because most people don’t have as many ultrasounds as I did, so it isn’t discovered until birth or more often until the baby dies in utero.

After all he had been through in January 2003 Thomas was diagnosed with Pulmonary Stenosis and had open heart surgery on March 28, 2003. After only four days in the hospital, he came home for good. He is the treasure of our lives and I would do it all over again in a heartbeat. Thomas is a lightning bolt of energy. Wherever we go, people notice him with his toe head blonde ha and light blue eyes.

In May 2007 we had a second healthy son, Peyton with absolutely no pregnancy complications.