The Tuckers received a surprise during a routine ultrasound. They would be having twins. One minute, they were happy, excited parents about to have twins. The next minute, they received devastating news about their twins.
Shellie and Greg Tucker already had a son named Owen when they decided to expand their family. Unfortunately, Shellie had some fertility issues that required she get some extra help conceiving. After three unsuccessful attempts, the couple found out they were pregnant. They were excited as first-time parents about their new arrival.
The pregnancy itself was completely normal. Shellie had morning sickness, which is extremely common for pregnant women. She had three ultrasounds that showed a strong heartbeat for her unborn baby. It was at the five month ultrasound that they saw something strange.
The technician pressed the wand onto Shellie’s rounded belly and immediately pulled it back. She asked Shellie how many ultrasounds she’d had. When the technician used the wand on her belly again, Shellie and Greg saw two round circles. Those circles were the heads of her babies. They were two, strong heartbeats too.
What they saw next was shocking, the twins were conjoined. They met with a doctor who explained that he didn’t think the twins could be separated. He suggested they terminate the pregnancy. While receiving this news, Shellie felt her babies kick, and she knew that she couldn’t give up hope. That night, they named their girls; Amelia and Allison.
The couple sought a second opinion from a specialist who did a battery of tests on Shellie. He determined that the girls could be separated. While they had a connected liver, they each had their own heart, lungs and other organs. They had a good chance to be separated and live long, full lives.
Shellie and Greg couldn’t have been more ecstatic. The girls were born by cesarean section, and they were healthy, beautiful babies. They lived conjoined for some time while the doctors practiced the complicated surgery on dolls. The doctors had to be sure that the girls would survive.
It took forty doctors seven hours to separate the girls, but it was a success.
Today, the girls live their lives as fully-separated twins. If Shellie hadn’t received a second opinion, she would have been without her beautiful, miraculous daughters.