A Texas twin saved her sister’s life by sending out distress signals prompting doctors to deliver them—and now they are both thriving.
Poppy McBride, 3, forced doctors to deliver her and her twin, Winnie, when her heart rate began to waver on the monitor at 31 weeks and 5 days.
But despite being the smaller of the twins, at 1 pound, 11 ounces, Poppy was perfectly healthy and nothing was wrong with her heart.
It was her sister, Winnie—born weighing 3 pounds, 8 ounces—who doctors hadn’t been concerned about during the pregnancy who was in trouble. She was born with underdeveloped lungs and was whisked to the intensive care unit.
Mom Leah McBride, 28, was told by doctors that Poppy saved her sister’s life and if they had waited any longer to deliver the twins, Winnie would not have made it.
Leah and her husband, Austin, 27, a crane mechanic, found out at 21 weeks that their girls had twin-to-twin transfusion—where there is an imbalance of blood flow that causes one baby to become a donor and the other a recipient of all nutrients in the womb.
Despite being told there was a low chance of survival for either baby, Leah had successful surgery to correct the blood-sharing imbalance and managed to make it to 31 weeks and five days before delivering the twins.
Winnie only just managed to pull through and had to have surgery at 14 days old to relieve a build-up of fluid on her brain. She then made a miraculous recovery.
Poppy remained healthy but had to stay in the hospital to gain weight before she was able to head home.
Winnie was discharged after 52 days, and Poppy followed 2 days later. The twins are now the best of friends and thriving.
Leah, a stay-at-home mom from Lake Jackson, Texas, said: “Our doctors told you: ‘I think your tiny twin saved her sister’s life.’
“Poppy’s heart rate had been all over the place, so they had to deliver but when she was born, she [was] completely fine.
“They think she was sending out distress signals because she knew her sister wouldn’t survive if they weren’t delivered then.
“Even now Poppy takes care of Winnie.
“They are so close—it’s sweet.”
Poppy is still much smaller, she said. Leah loves having a big and little twin.
Leah and Austin were ecstatic to find out they were expecting twins in January 2019 after a year of trying to conceive.
“I was really excited,” Leah said.
The couple then found out they were expecting identical twin girls and had to be closely monitored.
Leah had two ultrasounds every month to check her pregnancy was going smoothly and thought everything was fine until an in-depth scan at 21 weeks revealed something was wrong.
“They told me to come back to the doctors first thing the next day,” Leah said.
“Of course I was Googling everything that might be wrong and came across twin-to-twin transfusion.
“The doctor said he could barely see one twin and the other twin was surrounded by so much fluid.”
Leah was diagnosed with stage three twin-to-twin transfusion syndrome and advised to terminate baby B—Poppy—to give baby A—Winnie—a better chance of survival.
“There was already a 48 percent difference in the girls’ size and they were worried that Poppy would have a heart attack as she was passing all the nutrient to Winnie and they thought Winnie might have a stroke,” she said.
“I didn’t want to choose one baby over the other.
“I told my boss who I was a nanny for, and she sent me the contact details of a family friend to call to get a second opinion.”
Leah decided to go to Memorial Hermann Hospital in Houston and was told surgery could be more successful than previously advised and was given the night to rest.
“We spent the night in shock at the day’s events and praying we would still have two heartbeats the next day,” Leah said.
“I remember laying there most of the night trying to finalize the girls’ names because I couldn’t imagine something happening to them and not already having names picked out.”
The next morning Leah underwent surgery where she was kept awake while doctors worked to steady the blood imbalance.
The procedure was successful, and Leah was sent home on bed rest and was seen regularly by doctors.
At 27 weeks and 6 days, Leah’s waters broke and she was rushed to the delivery ward and given steroids to stop her labor.
“We needed to buy as much time as possible because 28 weeks was still too early to deliver them safely,” she said.
Leah managed to hold on for just under 31 weeks and 5 days when Poppy’s heartbeat dropped too low and wouldn’t go up.
Winnie and Poppy were delivered on May 24, 2019, weighing 3 pounds, 8 ounces, and 1 pound, 11 ounces, respectively.
“Poppy just needed a little bit of oxygen, but she was okay,” Leah said.
“She was smaller than a little elf on the shelf.
“Doctors said she was feisty.
“But Winnie, the bigger of the two, who I had never been concerned about, was very unhealthy.
“Her lungs were underdeveloped.
“They weren’t sure if she was going to make it.”
Miraculously Winnie pulled through but had to have brain surgery at 14 days old due to a build-up of fluid on the brain.
“A reservoir was placed with the intention to place a shunt as soon as she grew a little more but despite there only being a 10 percent chance of it resolving on its own, it did,” Leah said.
Poppy had to have blood transfusions and stayed in the hospital two days longer than her sister to make sure she reached 4 pounds.
Now both twins have nothing wrong with them, apart from Winnie having to wear glasses, and are the best of friends.
“They are as smart as can be,” Leah said.
“Winnie is smarter than average.
“She can read books from memory at three.
“I tried to move their beds apart recently and they weren’t having it.”
The mom said, “They are both amazing.”
